The Lost Rider
by Darigash
Summary: Hiccup leaves Berk, with everyone thinking he is dead, and hopes to find a place where he and Toothless can live without fear of being hunted down, but what happens when the queen threatens to destroy not just Berk, but the entire archipelago?
1. Prologue

**Sorry, I accidentally replaced this with another chapter, so you have been reading the wrong chapter for the prologue. But it's fixed now, so that's a plus.**

The Author's Note

This is yet another Hiccup ran away fic and as I believe this story will be reasonably long, so some key points.

-There will be no Hiccstrid. Sorry for you fans.

-There will be character deaths, mainly in CH23. Hiccup and Toothless will not die however.

-Hiccup will visit Berk, and Berk thinks he is dead when he leaves.

This story takes a lot of inspiration of other stories. While I will not use exact phrases, many scenes are very similar to other stories, or have a slight variation.

I will attempt to update this story once a day, not updating it only when I am short on time, as schoolwork takes priority over my casual at-home fanfictions.

Forgive me if my grammar is wrong at points. The power of Microsoft Word is limited, so feel free to PM me if I mess up.

"Regular text is norse"

"**Bold text is Dragonese"**

This is a rough draft, and is much shorter than it will be in the final draft. Everything is subject to change, and I will be rewriting every chapter at some point either because I dislike the way I wrote it, or because I want to add more detail in. I expect the final length of this story to be around 100,000 words in the final draft, nearly three times the length of the first rough draft.

NOTE: I will only say this once, I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. I own the OC's and the plot, as well as The Archanium Stone and Darigash.

* * *

><p><strong>Short prologue to introduce the story, this does not count as a chapter. <strong>

My life here is done. I have decided to run away, knowing full well the consequence it will have on the village and my father. My name is Hiccup, and today will be the last time I see my village.

It began with the Nightfury I found in the forest. Nobody believed me when I told them I shot it down, so I went out in the forest to kill it. It was a good plan, it would have worked too. I simply could not bring myself to kill it. Gradually, I befriended it. First giving it fish, and just recently, giving back it's ability to fly.

Today I won dragon training, and as a result, I have gained the "honor" of killing my first dragon.

But I don't want to.

So I will leave; I will leave today with Toothless. I don't know what we will find together, or what we are looking for, but we will not return to Berk, this place of hatred not just for the dragons, but for me. I will not live my life restricted to the customs forced upon me. I will find a new home, a safe haven for Toothless and I, a place where we can live without fear of being attacked by vikings and dragons alike.

Today I have the chance to change my life, for better, or for worse.


	2. CH1: Leaving a Nightmare

**Astrid's POV**

I ran out of my house, furious that Hiccup, Hiccup of all people, had won dragon training. My parents had tried to help, saying that "It wasn't your fault" and "You still got second", but I didn't want to hear any of it. I wanted to find out why I had lost.

I ran after Hiccup, desperate to find out why he did better than me.

Unlike the other people in Berk, I could see he was a fake. He didn't kill the dragons, only used tricks and lies to make people believe he did. Maybe if he fought honorably, I wouldn't follow him. But I couldn't lose to a lying trickster.

Upon approaching the forest, I saw a beaten down path, one that someone clearly used every day. But unlike the other paths in the forest, this one had only been used recently. Being the tracker that I was, I quickly determined that the track was made 3 weeks ago, the same day hiccup started beating me at dragon training.

Could this be the way to the place where he went after every session of dragon training?

There was only one way to find out.

**3rd Person POV**

Astrid followed the trail for a short time and saw Hiccup in a large cove, the placed that he trained. At least, that's what she thought it was.

As she approached the cliff of the cove, she saw that Hiccup was doing something. Not being able to see what he was doing from her vantage point, she moved around, hoping that Hiccup would not notice her.

However, inside the cove, a certain Nightfury heard something. Hidden from Astrid's view, the Nightfury nudged Hiccup, as if trying to tell him something. Hiccup looked up, and saw nothing.

Astrid ducked immediately behind a rock and whispered to herself, sure that Hiccup had seen her. Unbeknownst to her, he saw nothing.

"There's nothing up there Toothless", Hiccup said to the Nightfury, but Toothless knew better. He growled, not trusting the human that he knew was nearby. While Hiccup struggled to get the saddle on Toothless, Astrid stayed where she was, relived that he had not heard her.

Hiccup struggled for several minutes, and Astrid hid for the same amount of time. After Hiccup had fed Toothless the last of his fish, he flew out of the cove and into the sky.

"WHAT", Yelled Astrid, not believing what her eyes. She thought she just saw Hiccup ride a dragon. "No no no, I must have been imagining", she said to herself, not believing that it was possible. He was Hiccup, he would never be able to approach a dragon, much less ride it.

She slid out from behind the rock to find something to prove to herself that what just happened was real, as if that would change anything. After finding numerous pieces of evidence, she still could not convince herself that what she saw just happened. She came to a conclusion. Hiccup was dead, killed the same way his mother had.

**Astrid's POV**

I returned to Berk that night, upset that Hiccup had died. I didn't understand why I was so sad, I hated him just like most of the village, but now that he was gone, I wanted him to be back. I also had to tell Stoic the news that his son has died, and I knew he would not take it well.

"Stoic."

"What is it Astrid?"

"Hiccup, I think he was killed by a dragon out in the forest."

"He was WHAT!"

I gulped, hoping that Stoic would not get mad at me. "He was carried away by a black dragon. I… I don't know what he was thinking, going into a dragon's cove."

Stoic didn't take this lightly. "I lose my wife to dragons, I lose my son the same way… what more do these beast need to take from me?"

I left after this, knowing that he just needed time to himself after what had happened to Hiccup.

Two weeks passed, and I found myself missing Hiccup more and more. I didn't know why, but the village just felt so boring without him to mess everything up. Sure, it was for the better, nobody in the village wanted to deal with his constant mess-ups, but at least he tried.

There's an old saying "You don't know what you have until it's gone." That saying rings true here. Now that Hiccup was dead, I found myself in his room, admiring his inventions, his skill as an artist, wishing I had known him better when he was alive.


	3. CH2: Riding a Dragon

**Hiccup's POV**

I had been flying for several minutes now, and I began to talk to my dragon "I don't know about this Toothless, everything just feels so… so wrong". Toothless knew what he meant. He had proven time and time again he could understand me, and he knew it was difficult to run away from your home. "I don't know if this is the right choice, maybe I should go back, try and convince my father that dragons aren't dangerous." But in his heart, I knew my father wouldn't listen.

I began to doubt myself, and realized that I didn't know what to do. Now that I was free, I couldn't figure out what to do next. Freedom can only be had without a leader, but without a leader, I had nobody to guide me.

I took out my map, one of the many things I had packed in my bag, and began to make a plan as to where to head to. I spent a long time of debating with myself, and decided to go to a small island, not too far from Berk, and not too close. I knew my father well enough to know he would not search here. He probably wouldn't even search at all.

That thought made me start to cry. Was the village celebrating? It was a sad though to think, but I knew that they probably were given the amount of times I messed up when I lived in Berk.

One hour later, I saw the island I was looking for. Relived that I had not made a mistake, me and Toothless landed. "Here it is Toothless, a place we can call home."

The island was small, but large enough to live on. It was also near a village that I could trade with for any supplies that I needed. It was mostly flat, covered in trees and with a small mountain. But, it would do for what I needed.

After landing on the island, I made my way over to the village. Toothless knew humans well enough to know that he was not allowed in the village, so he stayed back on the island, allowing me to go into the village alone.

There were 12 houses surrounding the village center, and many more on the outskirts. Yet, there were few people outside. It seemed that majority of the people did not trust outsiders, and were waiting for me to leave. I hoped that spending some time talking and trading would help people see I meant no harm.

After visiting the blacksmith and talking with the more trusting locals, people began to come outside. I learned that this village was the village of Kidwah, a small village only a few generations old. Gradually, as more and more people began to come out and resume their normal activities, I "shopped" with the money I took from my father, I don't feel comfortable admitting I stole that money.

I returned to my island with some food, an axe, and permission to train under the blacksmith Bjorland.

The rest of the day was spent chopping down wood, and after getting a large pile of lumber, Toothless and I began to build ourselves a small, but cozy house.

We spent the next month and a half there without much change. I still worked under the Bjorland creating tools for the village, and in return, I was accepted into their community.

Unfortunately, people get curious, and after a loud night at the bar, Frenad and Liza decided to follow me after. They were twin brothers and sisters, 2 years older than I. They had a question, and that question wouldn't go unanswered for long.

**Frenad's POV**

"Where does he live" I asked my sister Liza. "He has been here for over a month and a half, and yet he does not own a house."

"Probably just sleeps in the alleyways", she said.

"That would make sense, but he has too much money for that"

"Well, well find out soon. Best not to spend too much time thinking about it."

I agreed. We would find out soon enough. Hiccup didn't seem to notice Liza or I hiding behind a rock. Then suddenly, out of the ocean, a dragon came onto the vacant part of town that we are in. My sister ducked behind me, and I kept looking, stunned by what I saw.

Hiccup, a scrawny teenager 2 years younger than I, was getting on a dragon. It took him just a few seconds, and I hid behind the rock praying he would not see me. I risked a second glance, and saw that he was indeed flying.

"What's happening?" my sister asked.

"I… I do believe that Hiccup just rode away on a… a… a dragon"

"WHAT"

"Yea, look for yourself."

She listened, and based on the look on her face, she saw it to.

"We have to tell the village elder."

"He'll never believe us"

"It's better than not telling him"

She was right. We should go back and tell him right now, with my sister as a witness. So we ran back, stunned by what we just saw, aware that the elder would not believe us.


	4. CH3: Elders are Smart

**Hiccup's POV**

I walked into the village at my usual time, and saw something I didn't expect. Everyone in the village was looking at me, and it scared me. "Hey guys… uh… why are you all looking at me like that."

After a long, unnatural silence, the village elder spoke up. "I believe that you have something to tell us. About a dragon."

Those words sent chills down my spine. How did he know I had a dragon? Could they be spying on me? I was going to lie, but decided better of it. Maybe these people would be open to dragons. Certainly, they wouldn't be as stubborn as Berk. "Umm, I may have a pet dragon. He's nice though, I swear he won't hurt you."

"Show me your dragon." He demanded.

I swallowed, and knew that I had to show him. If I didn't, any hope of convincing the village that dragons were nice would be gone. I shouted over the cliff "Toothless, come here. The village would like to meet you. And please, be nice."

Only seconds later, Toothless landed next to me, putting on as innocent of a face as he could. "This is Toothless" I said, gesturing to the dragon. Everyone backed up, aside from the elder. They were terrified, dragons had terrorized their farms for as long as they could remember. What made this one different?

"I swear, he won't hurt you as long as you, as long as you don't threaten him. Or me."

I expected the village to jail me, lock me up, or just do something bad in general. But instead, the elder walked forward towards the dragon, and after a painfully long time, touched Toothless's snout. I was stunned, and silently thanked Toothless for letting him.

Seeing this, people gathered around Toothless and the elder. They too were stunned by the action that had just took place. Most of the people used to shepherds or farmers, and after years of dragons burning their food, they could not believe what they just saw.

Then, the elder made an announcement. "Hiccup and all council members, follow me to the village center. We need to discuss… Toothless."

I was shocked by what just happened. Would it really be that easy to convince the village that Toothless wouldn't hurt them? I didn't know. Maybe there could be change, for the better. Maybe, just maybe, people would begin to understand dragons the way I did.

Half an hour later, I was telling the council of my life before meeting the residents of Kidwah. How I was neglected by even my own father, how Toothless has been my only real family, and how I ran away.

To my surprise, they understood. They had a vote on what to do, and it went in favor of allowing me to keep my dragon, even in the village, I was relieved. I knew then that this village could change the way they thought about dragons. Maybe it was the fact that they were not attacked as much as Berk, maybe the elder simply understood what I felt.

The council dispersed shortly after, and I walked away realizing something. This is what I wanted to happen to Berk when I thought about returning. This village, they understood something that Berk didn't. Maybe it's because the dragons ignored them, maybe Berkians were just too… too Viking like. Either way, I was happy.

News spread quickly, and I could hear people talk about me when they thought I couldn't. "How did he manage to tame a dragon", and "It's amazing that it listens to him." I even heard a young girl ask her mother if she could have a dragon when she was older.

Of course, some of the village thought badly of Toothless, and I don't blame them. But it was a start to something. Everything has to have a beginning.


	5. CH4: Things are Going Well, then Berk

**Hiccup's POV**

It has been a year since I introduced Toothless to the village, and everything has been going well. I worked the forge, earning the money I needed to pay for food, and spent most of my time flying around and helping the village.

People have really grown to the dragons. After a group of 20 or so decided to move to my island, the village befriended more than a few, and were using them for help around the village.

I recently taught Bjorland how to make a saddle, and today, will take 4 recruits down to my island to show them how to befriend and ride a dragon. They will be the first people in the village (aside from me) to fly.

Among the recruits were Liza and Frenad, the people who originally told the elder about Toothless. There was also Elizabeth, the daughter of the elder who had just turned 17, and Albert, the son of the blacksmith who was the same age as Elizabeth.

Upon their arrival, I welcomed them, "Welcome to my island. As I'm sure you already know, my name is Hiccup, and I will be instructing you." They seemed to find it funny that I was the youngest and shortest one there, and yet I was instructing them.

I began by showing them their dragons, the 3 most cooperative dragons on this island. A Deadly Nadder, a Gronckle, and a Zippleback.

"Which one's mine", Elizabeth asked eagerly, and I pointed to the Nadder which I selected for her.

"Elizabeth will be riding the Nadder, Albert will ride the Gronckle, and the twins will ride the Zippleback." They all agreed with my choices, so I began instructing the class. "The bond between human and dragon is created by trust. You must trust your dragon, and they must trust you. If you somehow break a dragon's trust…"

Half an hour later, Elizabeth was riding the Nadder "Stormfly" back to the village. Soon after, Albert was flying the Gronckle "Meatlug", and the twins returned last with their dragon (or is it dragons?) which they named Barf and Belch respectively.

I was happy for them, they were unique, willing to take risks. But as I flew to my new home, I sensed something wrong. Well, not wrong perhaps, but certainly something was going to happen, something I would not enjoy. I could tell that Toothless sensed it too.

**Astrid's POV**

There it was, the village of Kidwah. It was a new village that had contacted them a few days ago, wanting to trade and "get to know their neighbors". So, I left with Stoic, Gobber, and the other recruits from dragon training.

I heard a voice from above me. "Welcome to Kidwah. Please, come… have a drink and talk." We listened and followed him to what I guessed to be the town center. He turned out to be the village elder. We learned that there was nothing special about this village, but they controlled and island that could prove to be a valuable for trading, and we predicted that this village would one day grow to be as wealthy and powerful as our other allies.

We signed a treaty with them, saying that we are their allies and trade partners. It was a good time, filled with mead and drunk Vikings, and 3 hours later, we left.

As I walked out, I saw something in the sky. It took me but a moment to discern what it was. "DRAGON. GET DOWN", I shouted, unsheathing my axe, but nobody other than my shipmates listened as the dragon came down.

What I saw shocked me.

"Is everything ok?" A girl said with a questioning look on her face. We all stood, not understanding what we saw. That girl just landed… on a dragon.

"What in the name of all that is holy are you doing. GET AWAY FROM THAT DRAGON." I shouted

**3rd Person POV**

The girl was confused. Why did these people want here to get off her new pet? Then she remembered Hiccup's story. About his father, and realized she was standing right in front of Stoic the Vast. She quickly flew away, knowing their hatred towards dragons, and realizing her mistake.

"WHAT was THAT?" Stoic yelled at the elder.

"Eerm, that was my daughter Elizabeth, and that looks like a Nadder."

"What is she thinking? She's gone mad. Mad I tell you"

The elder debated for a moment, not sure what to tell him.

"Your right, what is she thinking. Please leave, I'll be having a… talk with here." He lied

So, the Vikings left, with Astrid left wondering, could Vikings actually ride dragons? The thought was ridiculous, but it would explain what happened to Hiccup that night. She thought she saw him riding away on a dragon, could he still be alive? She decided to talk to Stoic about this, maybe they could find him, if he was even alive.


	6. CH5: Ooh look, a Night Fury

**Hiccups POV**

I saw my father while riding on Toothless while watching that… event. I found the elder at the village center. "I… I need to leave. I can't risk my father finding out about this."

"I understand Hiccup. You have done much for us, showing us the truth about dragons. I believe they can take it from here." He gestured to the riders I just taught not an hour ago.

"I'm glad you understand, elder."

"It is no problem, just know that you are always welcome here."

I saw Elizabeth running towards me. "Hiccup, please don't leave."

"I must. If my father finds me here…" He left it at that, knowing full well what his father would do to him, but not wanting to talk about it.

"Thank you, for what you've done to the village."

"I have to go… now. I will be back eventually, don't worry."

With that, I flew into the night sky, thinking about Elizabeth, and the people he left behind.

**3rd Person POV**

Jared looked around for any potential threats. He rode his Nadder who he had named Redwing, investigating a village known as Kidwah, where there were rumors of dragon riders. It was his duty to find any threats to the city of Darigash, and if necessary, eliminate them.

Soon, Jared saw the village. It was late, and he knew nobody would be awake at this time, so he headed to a nearby island.

He scanned the surroundings, and saw a log cabin. It was new, but it seemed that nobody was there, so he picked the lock on the door to the cabin and walked in, his Nadder close behind.

The house was abandoned recently, so he decided to sleep inside. It was a comfort that he rarely had while scouting, he usually just slept on the ground.

The next morning, Jared woke up warm for the first time in weeks. He looked around, not seeing his nadder anywhere. He quickly got up and frantically searched the island for his Nadder, unable to find him. He could only hope he would return soon.

He was right. Redwing returned less than an hour later. When he saw the Nadder, he was both excited to see his dragon again, and furious that he had left. "Don't do that again. I was terrified", but the Nadder had something important to show him.

"What's that you have there?" he asked the dragon. He clearly had something in his mouth, and dropped it on the ground.

Jared couldn't believe what he saw. Nightfury scales, recently shed by the looks of it. But this was not possible. Could one have survived after what happened all those years ago?

"Follow the scent, Redwing. Lead me to the dragon." His dragon was a tracker after all. All scouts had one. He knew he should tell the council about his discovery, but he felt more compelled by curiosity. Could there be live Nightfuries out there?

He mounted Redwing, confident in his decision to go after the Nightfury, having no idea what to expect.

2 Days later, Redwing stopped. He landed on the island in front of him, and looked at Jared as if to say "this is it". He had gotten better at understanding the dragon over the years.

However, Jared did not want this to be the place where the Nightfury was hiding, not because he was scared, but because of what he saw.

It was clear that a fight had broken out here, probably between the Nightfury and another dragon. He circled the island a few times to make sure that he was not walking to his death, and to figure out where to look.

The island was large, but mostly flat. There was a small forest and a few caves, the only places something could hide on the island.

Jared walked around the forest first, spending nearly half an hour looking for any clue to what had happened here. He found nothing, so he began looking in the caves in hope to find something.

The first cave had nothing, neither did the second. With little hope left, he looked into the third cave, and was not disappointed.

There it was, the Nightfury that he had been tracking. It was injured, but immediately noticed Jared's presence. Maybe this wasn't a good idea, but curiosity got the best of him. He approached the dragon the way he was taught to, and the Nightfury let him come closer. He held out his hand to the Nightfury, and after several nerve-wracking seconds, the Nightfury nuzzled his hand. He sighed with relief, glad that the dragon now trusted him.

He took his medical supplies, ready to help the dragon, and imagined himself being the rider of the last Nightfury in existence. He imagined the looks on his friend's faces, amazed that he had found and tamed him.

That thought lasted only a moment though, because as he got out the bandages, the Nightfury opened his wings, revealing a small boy. He was stunned, but the look on the dragon's face was clear. Help the boy before you help me.

**Yes, I have changed the names to make it better. The names are similar, but easier on the ears.**


	7. CH6: Darigash

**Jared's POV**

I was stunned by the devotion the Nightfury showed, willing to risk its life to save the boy's. This must be why he had trusted me, he wanted me to help. I didn't want to leave the dragon here, but it was what it wanted, so I complied.

The boy was severely wounded. He had lost a leg and had several other marks on his body that would no doubt become scars one day. I wasn't sure if I could save him, but I had to try. So, I lifted the boy out from under the dragon's wing, and began tending to his wounds.

The Nightfury was quiet while I helped the boy. He seemed to understand what I was doing, but I could only help him to a certain degree. If he was to survive, then I needed to bring him to the healer in Darigash. It was only an hour away, and I could keep the boy alive for that long. The only problem was the dragon.

"Can you understand me?" I asked the dragon. It nodded and I tried my best to explain the situation to it. "If I don't get this boy to a healer soon, then he will die. Stay here, I will be back."

The dragon seemed to understand what I was saying and did nothing to stop me, so I bandaged a few of its larger wounds and flew to Darigash on Redwing.

45 minutes later, I arrived at the gates to the city. The guards let me in, and I brought the boy to the healer as quickly as possible.

"Merla, please help this boy." Merla was the name of the best healer in Darigash, and after seeing how tired Redwing was from our trip back, she agreed to help us free of charge. After looking at the boy's wounds, she told him his condition. "He will be fine. I'll order a prosthetic leg for him for when he wakes up in a few hours." I nodded, and flew back to the cave to find the Nightfury.

As I flew back, I wondered how that dragon was still alive. The disease, it killed hundreds of Nightfuries when I was 6. It was only 14 years ago, shortly after Darigash was created. The Nightfuries, they were all affected, every single one dying, but there seemed to be one survivor. An outcast maybe? Perhaps he left and was not affected.

The Nightfury hadn't moved an inch. "He will be fine. Best take you to him before he wakes up. I don't know how he will react without you." The dragon followed. With my medicine, it had healed quickly and was ready to fly. "Follow me" I told him, and he listened.

**Hiccup's POV**

I woke up, not sure where I was. I looked around, clearly seeing that I was in a healer's house, but not knowing in what village or even what region I was in. Then I remembered, Toothless was shot down by another dragon, and I fell off. I must have hit my head hard based on my lack of memory from that point on and the throbbing sensation in my head. Then I was worried. Where was Toothless?

I shouted my dragons name repetitively "Toothless. Toothless. TOOTHLESS!" He was not here.

I had attracted the attention of the healer. "Where is my dragon?" I shouted impatiently.

"What dragon?"

"The Nightfury, my friend, the dragon I was riding on when he was hit. Where is he?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you DON'T KNOW?" I was getting angry.

"Jared brought you in, he didn't bring a dragon, though I imagine he will be back soon."

"Get him here now!"

"I can't. He left immediately after helping you. Maybe he went back to help your… Nightfury."

At that moment, Toothless jumped through an open window, a tall boy a few years older than I arriving at the same time. "You know, I can't help but imagine that you're right."

"Did I miss anything? Aside from him waking up." Jared asked.

"No, you didn't, but I'm sure he has questions for you."

I did in fact have questions for him. I asked the simpler questions first "Where am I?"

"You are in the city of Darigash. I doubt you have heard of it, but once you heal, I will show you around."

That didn't help. "How did you find me?"

"I didn't. My dragon found you."

"Wait, you're a dragon rider too?"

"Yes, I was scouting out a village named Kidwah, when my dragon showed me where you and your dragon were."

"That's amazing. Finally, somebody who understands dragons like I do."

"It's not just me. That's what Darigash is. A city for people who understand the dragons." A smile lit my face. At that moment I knew, this is where I am supposed to be.


	8. CH7: They Had A Court Back Then

**Hiccup's POV**

2 weeks later, I was up and about. I was only allowed on Merla's land.  
>She had a large plot, and lived in a small but cozy cabin. The rest of<br>the land was forest, the boundaries of which were clearly defined by  
>large stone walls<p>

Even now, I was thinking about what Gyrard had said. That Darigash was  
>a city that shared my feelings about dragons.<p>

At first I was relieved. This is what I left Berk for. A new life, one  
>where I had friends that truly understood me.<p>

But... There were problems. Rumor spread about the boy from a tribe of dragon slaying Vikings. They didn't trust me. Merla explained this too me, and I guess I can  
>understand. Berk made its opinion on dragons well known.<p>

Thankfully, I was leaving Merla's cabin tomorrow to speak with the  
>"court", some group of officials who I could explain my situation to.<br>I eagerly waited for tomorrow. I knew I could explain to them, and I  
>wanted to see Darigash for myself.<p>

1 day later, I was in the "court room". It was a small courtroom, with 12 large chairs as well as some smaller ones. I was thinking about what I could tell them to expain my situation to them.

My thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a group of 30 people. They all took their seat, and the head judge announced with the hammer banging against his table "Order, order. Let us begin".

"We have gathered here to determine whether or not this boy from Berk should be allowed in Darigash." That made sense. Then he turned to me. "What is your name?"

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third" I said, causing people to burst out laughing. "Yes, it's a terrible name, I am aware. But Berk is known for naming its people silly names to 'scare off trolls and the likes'". I said the last part sarcastically. I didn't appreciate Berk's naming tradition either.

"You say you come from Berk. They are known for killing dragons. How do we trust you?"

"I am not like them. I have a dragon of my own, and I left because I knew they would kill it."

"Is this true? Can you prove this statement?"

"Well Toothless, my dragon, is not here. He is with Merla."

"Then how do we know we can trust you?"

Thankfully, Gyrard was in the group and decided to speak. "I can confirm that this boy does have a dragon. He is not lying."

"Thank you Gryrard. Now, can we please move on?"

"There are still plenty of things that you may be. A roman spy? An outcast? We have no way to prove that you are innocent."

I was getting annoyed now. "When I was young, back when I was on Berk, I was neglected. I was not strong enough to fight, and I did everything I could to prove I could kill a dragon. But that all changed when I shot down a dragon. As usual, nobody believed that I could kill a dragon, so I went out to the forest to find it and bring back its head. I stood over it with my knife, but I couldn't kill it. It had done nothing to me, yet I had shot it down. So I released it, and came back to investigate the dragon. Eventually, I decided to give it food, and my life has not been the same since." People were enjoying my story, and found themselves believing me. "I visited him every day from that point on. I helped him fly again by creating a prosthetic tailfin, and in turn he helped me. Then I won dragon training, I was forced to kill a dragon. So I left. I couldn't kill a dragon, nor continue to put my dragon in danger. And here I am now." It was clear everyone believed me, except for the judges.

"What makes you think we should believe you?" I swear, this judge is the stupidest person on the planet.

"I have done NOTHING to you, yet you still won't believe me. I could burn this city to the ground, yet I choose not to, because I want you to trust me, but you won't." I shoudnt have said that.

"What makes you think you can do that? You cannot leave the court. We have guards blocking th-"

"My dragon isn't just any old dragon. You've seen him, I bet you can't recognize the species, can you?"

"No, I can't"

"That makes sense. After all, the unholy offspring of lighting and death does not tend to reveal itself often." A nervous energy filled the room. "If the outcasts, or the romans, or the Spaniards controlled this dragon, do you think they would send a spy?"

"I… I am sorry. I did not realize this. You will be allowed in Darigash. But do not betray us."

On that note, I walked out and returned to Merla's cabin. I wasn't so sure about this now, I just hoped things would calm down.

I didn't know how wrong I was.


	9. CH8: Getting Bored

Merla greeted me as I walked into the cabin. "I hope things went well."

"They did." Actually, they didn't.

There was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I asked as I approached the door.

"It's me, Jared. I was sent to show you around the city."

I opened the door, finding Jared waiting impatiently.

"All right. Show me around."

The city was massive, but most of it was taken up with forests. Their houses were strange and very impressive, basically 6 houses layered onto of each other. Jared called them "Skyscrapers". _(Remember, in Viking times, 6 stories was massive.)_

The village layout made sense. The north side was all shops and services; the east was mostly forest and trails with a few expensive looking houses; the south was filled with residential buildings; and the west was filled with defensive structures and training sites, as well as the only entrance.

It was a beautiful city as well. The skyscrapers allowed more of the land to be used for things that aren't houses, making the city feel more open.

It was wonderful here, now I just needed to find something to do.

"Jared, do you know where I can get a job?" He had spent nearly half an hour showing me around that he forgot about the basic needs.

"Well, that depends on what you're looking for. There are people everywhere looking for somebody to help them, so what do you want to do?"

"Blacksmithing"

"Isn't that a little… never mind. Go see Godard. He is always taking on new apprentices."

"Okay, thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." I walked off following his directions.

"Hiccup."

"What?"

"You're dragon, he's a Nightfury. Do you know if there's any left?"

"No, I don't, but I'm sure there are. It's a big world, I can only hope we can find another, for his sake."

It was a short jog over to Godard's forge. He was sharpening a sword when he saw me approaching, and I think he assumed that I wanted a weapon fixed.

"I can't help you with your weapon if that's what you want. I'm overflowing with work, go talk to one of the other blacksmiths."

"I didn't come here to give you work, I came here to work for you." I explained.

"Well, I could use a hand, do you know how to use a grindstone?"

"Yes."

"Well then, get started on these swords. I'll make sure you're paid." He dumped a large pile of weapons into my hands, and I started working.

It took me 3 hours to sharpen all the swords. During that time, Godard taught 4 students and forged a new axe for a friend, while all I got to do was sharpen.

But it was worth it. He gave me permission to use his forge and 8 silver pieces, yet he reminded me a lot of Gobber. As I thought of this, painful memories returned. Gobber was the only person in Berk that really cared for me. I found myself wishing I could go back and talk to him, only realizing how silly I was being. They would never accept me. They would never accept Toothless.

The days continued on. I woke up, helped Godard with the forge occasionally working on my own projects, shopped, played with Toothless, and went back to sleep. Weeks passed by, months even, and I found myself bored with my new life. I had to do something, not just sit back and stay in Darigash, but what could I do.

I had spent 2 years in Darigash, and in that time I have done many things. I built myself a fancy suit of leather armor, with everything I could ever need, from a compass holder to a pencil sharpener. I created a sword for myself, and I was one of the best fighters in Darigash. But I needed to leave.

I decided to go, map the area around Darigash and see what I could find. I'm sure Toothless would love it, he always loved flying.

That morning I walked down to Godard's forge. "I'm leaving."

"What, no. You're the best blacksmith I've had in years."

"Not like that Godard. I just want to explore. To do something. I'll be back in a few weeks."

"Alright then, but come back soon. I can't handle this forge all on my own."

"I will, don't worry."

Now that I had a sort of permission, I went to find Jared. We had become close friends over the passing months, and I didn't want to leave him behind.

I also went to get Xander. I met him one day in the forge and we quickly became close friends.

They both agreed. They wanted to explore as much as I did, so we left Darigash, heading towards the nearest island. It was far away, Darigash was best kept secret and so it was in the middle of nowhere. We landed on the island, and slept the night.

We woke up well rested. Xander had went to get some food, so Jared and I talked for a while. "Where are we headed?" He asked.

"I don't know, it's better that way. Not knowing where you're going."

"I guess so. It's not very interesting if you know exactly where you'll end up."

"Exactly. We just keep traveling, stopping wherever we want. We have our compasses, so we can return to Darigash if we get lost."

"I guess so. I'm just worried that we'll be attacked."

"Don't worry so much. Nobody could find us out here, and if they did, they would have to deal with Toothless."

"I know, but I can't help but feel were in danger. Even with Toothless."

"Should I tell Xander, about Toothless? In case we get lost and it's important in some way."

"The decision is up to you. I know that you don't want to tell people about him, but why?"

"I want people to see me, not the dragon I ride. I don't want people wanting to be my friends because I ride one of the last Nightfuries."

"Just be careful, ok. I can't help but feel like something bad is going to happen."


	10. CH9: Berk Again

**Hiccup's POV**

It took Xander half an hour to come back, but it was worth it. He was an amazing fisherman, and in that time he caught a bucketful of fish, plenty for us and the dragons.

We ate, and left the island shortly after, not wanting to stay in one place for too long.

We flew for about an hour, until we saw a boat full of people and hid, not wanting to get caught. "We should take a closer look." Jared suggested. "We don't want people finding Darigash."

"I agree, but we should wait until nighttime. It will be easier to stay hidden."

So we spent the next 10 hours following the boat. They decided to stop and set up camp eventually, giving us the chance we needed to sneak down there.

We had a simple plan. "Xander will go in, Jared and I will stay back in case something goes wrong. If something does go wrong, we'll just attack." It was nearly pitch black when Xander got up and snuck into the camp.

**Xander's POV**

It was terrifying being in their camp. They could find and kill me at any moment, but I had to get information. I heard two voices talking and listened to what they were saying.

"I can't believe we're doing this. We've been out here for weeks and find nothing."

"I know. He's probably dead by now, he left 3 years ago."

"I understand that he's upset, but he could be anywhere."

"Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky and head home sometime soon."

"This whole thing is so messed up. He's got to be dead. His knife was on the ground, Nightfury scales and marks everywhere. It's pointless."

"Did you hear that?" My heart stopped. The man began walking towards my position, and I ran. "SPY!" he yelled, and I was stopped by a massive figure holding an axe. He lunged at me, and I blacked out.

**Hiccup's POV**

The moment I heard them yell spy, I jumped on Toothless's back and flew in, but I was too late. Xander was on the floor having clearly been knocked out. I needed to help him, so landed near the camp and ran in as quickly as I could.

"Leave him alone!" I yelled, attracting the attention of the people that surrounded Xander.

"Why should we. He was spying on us, and you're clearly on his side." I looked around to see who said that, and it was… Astrid? What was she even doing here?

"What are Berkians doing here?"

"All you need to know is that we outnumber you and have your friend hostage. So surrender, or we kill him." Astrid pointed her axe at Xander as she said the last part.

"Fine… I surrender, but do not hurt Xander." I noticed Jared was watching from above, and I signaled him to get Toothless and hide.

I gave Astrid my sword as they locked Xander and I up below their ship's decks.

Xander woke up sometime in the morning. It was difficult to tell time because the only source of light was the hole in the deck that let it through.

They took off all of my armor, but I guess my face had changed enough to keep them from recognizing me.

There was nothing to do all day except worry, not about myself, but about Toothless. He would no doubt freak out once he realized I was gone. I was sure I could escape, but how was Toothless reacting to my capture.

I didn't have long to think about it, because shortly after, Astrid came over to my cell. "Get up" she said, and I did. She led me over to another room and tied me to a support beam. I chose not to resist.

"Now, what is your name?"

"I am known by many names, though most people call me Wilson" I lied.

"Where are you from?"

"The same place as you, Astrid."

She was shocked. "How do you know who I am?" she asked, trying not to lose her composure.

"My friend told me. Really it's not – OW" She whack my helmet before I could finish.

"That's a lie. Tell me or I will hurt you."

It took me a second to think of something. "I lived in Kidwah for a time. A bunch of people from Berk visited, and I recognized you as Astrid." That wasn't a lie.

"Why was your friend spying?"

"We wanted to know why Berkians were traveling so far. All I heard was that you were looking for somebody."

"We are. His name is Hiccup. His father Stoic the Vast is looking for him after we heard news of him living in Kidwah for a time. Where is he?"

"How should I know?"

"Because Xander said he knew him, and you are a friend of Xander's. Now, where is he?"

"I don't know. He could be anywhere by now. You can't trap me in a prison below deck and expect me to know where he went."

"So you know him as well."

"Yes."

She went upstairs to tell them something, then headed back down. "We will release you and your friend if you bring back Hiccup. You have 2 days. If he is not back by then, we will kill you."

She cut the rope that tied me to the pole and let me and Xander back onto the island. We headed back to camp.

"What happened?" Jared asked.

"They released us, but there is one problem. They don't know I'm Hiccup, and they will kill all of us if I don't go back."

"But you can't go back." They were both opposed to going back

"Looks like I have to. Otherwise, they will kill us."

"Let them try."


	11. CH10: Actually Berk Again

**I know, I know. No chapter yesterday, my wifi clearly did not want me to post anything. Anyways, I have already wrote chapter 11 and I'm glad to say that the chapter length is going up. I know the chapters are very short (I do write a chapter every day, I can't write 10,000 words each chapter), but now that the action is picking up, the chapters seem to be getting longer. Yay.**

**Astrid's POV**

"Stoic, do you think they'll come back?"

"I hope so. It's been so long since Hiccup left. I'm just glad he's alive."

"Well, we can only hope he does. I miss him a lot." I wasn't lying. Ever heard the phrase "You don't know what you have until it's gone. That's what I'm feeling right now.

"Do you think the tracker will work? I don't want them to run off without bringing him back."

"Of course it will, its Hiccup's own design. I snuck it in Wilson's pocket when he was sleeping."

Stoic seemed satisfied with that answer and headed off to bed, knowing that the spies they caught would not come back that night.

**Hiccup's POV**

"So, what's the plan Xander?"

"You head back to Berk and tell them that you were attacked by a dragon and needed to stay, while we got away. If they allow you to stay, which I think they will, then stay. If they give you another boat, you tell them that you are Hiccup. Make sense?"

"Yes, but why can't you guys come."

"We have things we need to do back at Darigash, we can't just leave for a long period of time."

"All right. Let's wait until tomorrow and get working. We have a dragon attack to fake."

The next morning, we stole a boat from the small fleet my father brought with him, and set to work making it look like I was attacked. The fleet headed towards Berk later that day, and I followed them on my dragon, while Jared and Xander headed back to Darigash. I sighed. This was going to be a long trip.

I took nearly a week for Stoic to return and I decided to wait another 3 days after that, just to be safe.

It morning, time for me to head back to Berk in the boat that I have been in. I could only hope they didn't question me too much, as I didn't have a lot of answers, and I am a really bad liar. Toothless headed over to the cove where we first met, worried about me as always. I would sleep in the cove with Toothless so I could keep my mask on when sleeping.

I rowed in to port, thankfully few people saw me. I wanted to attract as little attention as possible.

I walked up the wooden pathway and was greeted by familiar faces. But they weren't happy.

"Hello, Stoic. And Astrid. And—"

"Where is Hiccup?"

"I don't know. I was attacked by dragons on the way and had to return to Berk. I need to stay here for a while. I nearly starved to death out there."

"Fine, you can stay for two weeks. After that though, you will find Hiccup, and you won't come back until he returns."

"Understood sir."

"Good. You can do what you wish until sundown. You can eat with us and tell us what happened."

"Thank you sir. Do you, by any chance, know a place I can practice fighting?"

"Of course. ASTRID, COME HERE. SHOW WILSON WHERE THE TRAINING ARENA IS!"

Astrid ran over at my father's request. "Of course, Stoic. Follow me Wilson."

I followed her on the half a mile hike to the newly constructed training arena. The rest of the teens were already there, as well as a large amount of smaller kids a year or 2 younger than me.

The place was large, and looked to have been built less than a month ago. I was admiring the place when Astrid drew her axe. "What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Training" She told me. "I need to know how good you are so I can pair you with somebody else. Now, fight." Everyone in the ring turned to watch me and Astrid as we got in position to fight. "Fight 3 rounds. After that, I'll pair you with somebody."

"O-Ok" I said as I drew my weapon, nervous that I would embarrass myself. "3—2—1—Go!" She charged at me, weapon above her head.

I had only seconds to react. I pressed the button on Inferno (The flaming sword he has in HTTYD2), causing it to deploy and desperately blocked her strike with my sword. I pressed another button causing it to light on fire, grinning at the look on the spectators faces.

Astrid was not fazed though. She charged again with her axe and I deflected it with my sword, then immediately kneed her in the stomach, causing her to fall on the ground. I pointed my sword at her, clearly showing that I had won and it was time for the next round.

"Well, you can fight, I'll give you that." She tried to say this calmly, but she really was concerned. How had this boy defeated her so easily?

"Round 2" I told her. She didn't charge this time, knowing that doing so would be pointless. Instead, she slowly approached and swung her axe in a complicated series of strikes. I blocked the first few, then ducked under the fourth one, punching a vulnerable spot on her right arm causing her to drop her weapon. Disarmed, she surrendered again.

I waited for her to pick up her weapon and we fought another round. She was angry, and launched a series of powerful attacks that I could barely block, and kicked me to the floor. She attempted to make one last strike to finish me off while I was down, but I knocked her knees out and used her momentum to fling her over my head, making her land on the floor and drop her weapon. I had won again.

The teens stared in awe, amazed that I could beat somebody as good as Astrid. It took her a while to get up after that fall, and she was angry that I had beat her. She immediately left, embarrassed that so many people saw her defeat. I trained for a while before heading to the cove where I left Toothless, wanting to talk to him and make sure he was ok.


	12. CH11: Suddenly, Dragons Began Talking

**Hiccup's POV**

"Toothless, are you in there." I shouted into the cove get the dragon's attention.

I climbed down into the cove, starting to get worried when Toothless didn't show himself.

"Toothless, it's me. Where are you?"

"Toothless!" I was yelling now, and heard a soft whimper come from behind a large boulder.

I looked behind the boulder and saw Toothless. He must have been attacked by the Vikings on the way here. He was covered in blood and could barely stand. I ran to his side, getting out the first aid kit I kept on me at all times.

The next few hours were spent stopping the bleeding from Toothless's wounds. He had multiple, long gashes along his body that I could only hope would heal soon, and I helped him move to a nearby cave before leaving to meet Stoic.

"I'm sorry bud, I have to go. If I don't, they'll think that I was lying, and I promise I'll be back soon."

The dragon grumbled, clearly not happy with my decision, but I didn't have much of a choice. I left, worried about Toothless and hoping he'll be ok.

**Stoic's POV**

As the sun sank below the horizon, Wilson walked in. We had prepared a small feast for 5 people, including Astrid, Gobber, Wilson, Snotlout, and I. We didn't want very many people here, as people tend to talk less when they are talking to a lot of people. I welcomed him with a bottle of beer, which he gratefully took.

I spoke first. "Welcome. Please, get comfortable." I gestured to a chair for him to sit in.

"Y'all right lad? You don't look too well." Gobber asked, trying to get on his good side.

"I'm fine, thanks. Just… thinking. That's all."

"If you say so."

Snotlout interrupted them. "Why are you carrying your weapons?"

"I don't know if I can trust you yet." Wilson told them.

I didn't like that. If anything, we shouldn't trust him. "You were the one who tried to spy on us." Astrid shot back angrily.

He shrugged. "I'll put my weapons away if I must." He said as put them away.

I decided to start pressing for information. "So, tell me about yourself. Where are you from, and why were you living that far away?"

"I came from a tribe close to here. They didn't want me, I always messed up. So I left, and I joined a new tribe near where I was."

"But why? How could they treat you so badly that you ran away?"

"It wasn't the treatment that made me run. I made friends with someone… someone that I shouldn't have. I knew that if my tribe found out, they would kill him, so we left the tribe to go live somewhere else. I didn't want to endanger him anymore."

"Where is this friend now?"

"I have no idea."

**Hiccup's POV**

We ate for another hour, talking the entire time. It was strange, now that I wasn't Hiccup, my tribe was willing to talk to me and help me, but when I was Hiccup, not even close. Stoic approached me alone after we were done.

"You can sleep in the empty room upstairs."

"I'm fine. I prefer to sleep outside."

"You can't. There's a Nightfury out there, damn thing escaped before we could kill it. Who knows if it's still out there?"

I could barely contain my anger. They did this to Toothless, and now he won't be able to walk for weeks. Attempting to regain my composure, I told him "I'll be fine. I'm tougher than I look. Ask Astrid, I'm sure she'll support me."

"All right, but do not die. You're the only hope I have of finding my son."

I walked out the door and ran to Toothless. I had been gone a long time now, and he was no doubt worried.

I arrived at the cove to find Toothless sleeping in the cave where I left him, still covered in the bandages I put on a while ago. I laid down on his stomach, and he took me in his wing. It was warm and comfortable, and I fell asleep within minutes.

I woke up to Toothless's growling. It was around midnight, and he clearly sensed something wrong. "What is it bud?" I asked him, concerned for our safety.

"**I smell a human nearby, and it's not you." **He… Responded?

"Woah woah woah wait, did you just… talk? Or am I hallucinating?"

"**You can… understand me?"**

"Yes… I think. I mean… I could always understand you, but you never talked. Until now."

Toothless looked quite impressed. **"You are special. Very few people ever talk to dragons, but first, let's deal with the human. We can talk later."**

"No no no… you need to hide. There are more humans on that island than you can handle."

"**Where do I go?"**

"You stay here, I'll talk to them and see what's going on."

"**Ok"**

I snuck out of the cave, looking for the person Toothless was talking about. It took me a minute, but I found Astrid walking above the cove. She displayed no sign that she'd seen us, so I went back into the cave and hoped she would not have the urge to suddenly change direction.

"Don't worry bud, it's just Astrid, and she didn't even notice us."

"**If you say so."**

Hearing Toothless's voice was just so… strange. What confused me more is how it sounded a lot like mine. I laid against him, wondering how I could suddenly talk to him. It took less than minute for Toothless to start asking questions.

"**Hiccup, how long will it be before I can fly again?"**

"I don't know, a week at best, a month or two at worst."

"**So, we can go flying as soon as it's healed… right?"**

"Of course. I will miss flying as much as you will."

"**Really?"**

"Yeah. Who doesn't like the wind in your face, being high off the ground and being free to go wherever?"

"**Hmm, I always thought you rode on my back to help me."**

"I did initially, back when we first met. But now that I have flown, it's hard to go back."

"**What were you thinking when we first met."**

"What do you mean?"

"**Well… you shot down me, the 'unholy offspring of lightning and death itself', that 'your only chance of survival is to hide and pray it does not find you', and decided it would be a good idea to let me go. Not that I'm upset, just curious."**

"Well, I don't know. I guess I looked down at you and saw… emotion, something that people thought dragons didn't have. I realized just how scared you were and that you had done nothing to hurt me."

"**What about the day when you decided to go up to me and give me fish?"**

"Umm, Gobber said something about dragons always going for the kill, and I wondered why you didn't."

"**And the day after that?"**

"Are you just going to ask me these questions the entire day? I know you're excited to be able to communicate properly, but remember. This isn't a temporary thing."

"**What if it is?"**

"It's just not. I can tell. I don't know how to explain it, it's like instinct or something."

"**Its instinct for a Viking to know whether or not the ability to talk to dragons is permanent or not?"**

"You know what I mean… don't pretend that you don't. Anyways, I'm going back to sleep. Can I have your wing please?"

"**You're such a baby."**

"Am not, your wing is warm, I'm a delicate human being, and I need warmth. Besides, you know you like having me tucked up under your wing."

Toothless grumbled something about stupid humans and wrapped his wing around me. We drifted off to sleep, excited to be able to finally communicate.

**Yes, I know, most of this chapter was Hiccup and Toothless. Some of you will not like this, some of you will, and I will try my best to focus on Hiccup and Toothless's relationship without focusing on it too much. The amount that I spent this chapter was a lot because I needed to set everything up. Don't expect this much every chapter.**


	13. CH12: Fishlegs Betrays Berk

**Hiccup's POV**

Toothless woke me up early as always. I crawled out of his wing and stood up, wanting to go back to sleep, but knowing Toothless wouldn't let me. I built a makeshift fishing rod and went fishing for Toothless, knowing that he could not get his own food due to his injuries. After giving Toothless his breakfast, I headed into Berk to get my own.

I went to Stoic's house to go get breakfast, the entire time dodging questions involving where and how I slept out in the forest.

I spent the time like any other day, I trained, I ate, and I helped Gobber at the forge. He was baffled as to how I could work in the forge with my mask on, and I did my best to dodge his questions.

I could tell that Gobber was suspicious, I think he might even know who I am. Just based on the questions he asked, it seemed like he was looking for proof that I was Hiccup. But, I could do little about his suspicions. Gobber was probably one of the few people in Berk I didn't mind knowing my identity, so I wrestled with the idea of telling him for a while, before deciding that it was best to keep secret for as long as possible.

Later that night, Stoic invited me to meeting, something about dragons. It didn't surprise me that it was about dragons, Berk tended to be focused around one thing and one thing only.

Stoic's voice was loud enough for everyone to hear him speak, even those near the back of the room. "As you know, two days ago, Gobber and I fought a Nightfury, but it got away. Today, I want to talk about the possibility of going into the woods and killing it, to stop the terror it brought."

Those words sent chills down my spine. If they sent a search party, they would definitely find and kill Toothless. Thankfully, it seemed that people were not too excited about the idea of fighting the most dangerous dragon known to man. Somebody in the crowd spoke up.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, what if we all die?"

"Gobber and I wounded it, it will be unable to fight properly due to its wounds."

"What if it left? I doubt that beast would sleep in the forest of the very people who want to kill it."

"It doesn't matter if it may have left, if we have the chance to kill this beast, we should take it. Now who's with me!?"

A total of 12 people volunteered to search for the Nightfury, a small amount, but enough to worry about. I needed to find a new hiding spot for Toothless, he would get spotted easily if he stayed where he was.

"We start the search tomorrow. You 12, come with me. We will review the plan."

Oh dear, they had a plan. That's not good. I had expected them to charge into the forest axes over their heads, but if they were going to systematically search the island the way I did, then not even a good hiding spot would help.

I returned to the forest to find Toothless in the same spot I left him in, clearly bored. "Toothless, we need to leave" I told him.

"**Why?"**

"My father is sending out a search party to look for you. If they find you, then you will die. We need to find a better spot for you to hide, somewhere they will not look."

"**What about those islands over there, if we could get across the water, then I believe I would be safe."**

"That's a good idea, but there's one flaw. You can barely fly, much less cross water. And how would I get on and off the island?"

"**You could use that thing you humans call a boat. Bring me over to the island and you could row yourself over."**

"I could do that, but I would need at least 3 other people helping me row, 3 people who know about you."

"**I don't see any other options. This is one of the best hiding spots on this island, so I doubt they will find me any time soon. If you want to spend the next few days finding people to help you row, then I will stay here while you do."**

"You're right, I'll be going. I have a few people who I think I can convince to help me, hopefully I can get them to help before it's too late."

"**Well then, no time to waste. I'll be here if you need me."**

"Of course you will. Go, get some sleep. I'll be back soon with Fishlegs, one of the humans who I think will help."

I headed over to Fishlegs house intent on getting him to help me. I knew he would not pass up knowledge about dragons, and he was one of the few people who treated me well when I lived in Berk. If I couldn't convince him, then I'd have no chance of convincing anyone else.

I found Fishlegs before sunset, reading the book of dragons as he always is.

"Fishlegs, I need your help."

He was startled at first, but once he realized who I was, he responded. "What for?"

"The Nightfury search."

"Well if you want somebody to help you kill the Nightfury, go talk to Astrid. I'll just get killed."

"That's not why I want you. I don't want them to find the Nightfury."

"Why?"

I took a Terrible Terror I had stolen from the training area and showed it to him. He backed up, but leaned in to look once he saw that it wasn't attacking me. "Dragons are peaceful, they only attack us because we attack them. I want to prevent lives from being lost… on both sides."

"But… they are not peaceful, do you have any idea how many lives have been lost due to them?"

"Yes, but they only do it for their own survival. Look at this 'Terrible Terror', completely fine and not attacking, because he's not threatened."

"You can't seriously expect me to help a Nightfury."

"I can pay you back, not in coin, but in knowledge. I have been studying dragons for a long time now, and I have learned things I'm sure you would love to add to the book of dragons."

His eyes widened when I spoke of the book. "I'd love to, but how are you going to keep the Nightfury from killing us?"

"I know this Nightfury, and I can promise he won't attack you or me."

"Swear on your life, and we have a deal."

"I swear on my life that that Nightfury will not harm either of us."

"Deal, now when do we start?"

"Now, I presume. Follow me, I'll show you the way to the cove where the Nightfury is."

We walked down the trail I walked every day after dragon training before I left, and arrived at the cove in record time. "See that cave?" Fishlegs nodded. "The Nightfury is in there. Don't harm it and it won't harm you."

I climbed down the cliff face, followed by Fishlegs, and whispered in Toothless's ear, "Toothless, this is Fishlegs. Look adorable and nice, ok?"

"**Of course."**

"Over here Fishlegs."

Fishlegs walked over to me and froze in fear when he saw the Nightfury looking at him. "Don't be afraid, he won't hurt you. Hold out this fish, and let him eat it." I handed him a fish which he held out towards Toothless. The dragon approached him, listening to what I said and looking cute, and ate the fish out of his hands.

"See, nothing to be afraid of."

Now that Fishlegs was not so terrified, he began to actually observe Toothless. It took him only a few moments to see the saddle on his back, and his prosthetic tailfin. "You… rode a Nightfury?" He asked in awe.

I nodded, glad that Fishlegs was taking this so well. He leaned forward to pet Toothless, and I found myself telling him about how I come here every night and sleep under Toothless's wing, and how if we didn't find a way to get him to that island, he would likely die. He agreed to help me get him to the island.

I could only hope the others would be as cooperative as Fishlegs.


	14. CH13: Astrid Gets Suspicious

**Hiccup's POV**

"Tuffnut, where do you think you're going?"

Yes, I had told Ruffnut and Tuffnut everything I had told Fishlegs. Why I chose them, I have no idea. It was just a feeling, and it had proven to be right.

The three teens had volunteered to help me get Toothless onto the island. Stoic had just started the searches, and I wanted to get Toothless out of here before he got this far. Tuffnut had managed to steal a boat from the docks, and we were getting ready to leave for the island.

Of course, Tuffnut decided that he did not want to endure the suffering that was rowing a boat with a Nightfury on it.

"Tuffnut, if you run away, I won't help you train a dragon."

Surely that would work. Tuffnut loved destruction, and his eyes went wide at the thought of riding around on a dragon. Oh, how much havoc they would wreak. Of course, telling him I would not train him a dragon was enough to get him to help rowing for an hour or so.

Thankfully, we had arrived on the island before Tuffnut decided to start arguing again. Toothless was excited to get off the boat, he got seasick halfway. I found a cave on the island much like the one in the cove and hid Toothless in it. He tried to stop me from leaving when the time came, as he thought that I would not be back until tomorrow.

"Come on guys. Let's row back quickly. We don't want the village knowing where we went."

Tuffnut didn't like this idea, and decided to make up an excuse as to why he couldn't row. "Ugh, I've been rowing for hours, Ruffnut didn't row at all."

"Did to."

"Did not."

"If anyone didn't row, it would be you."

"No."

"Yeah."

"Stop!" I yelled, trying to get their attention. Those twins just didn't know when to stop arguing, it seemed to be their only purpose in life.

Thankfully, it worked. "Both of you guys will row, it will be easier now that we don't have a 2 ton dragon weighing this boat down."

That worked as well, and soon we were rowing are way back to Berk.

The Ruffnut and Tuffnut left soon after we hit land, leaving me and Fishlegs to build a dock and raft for when I wanted to visit Toothless. It would have to be light and quick so I wouldn't spend half an hour on the way there, and I had to be sturdy to prevent me from… you know, drowning.

Fishlegs helped me build the raft, and in return I shared information about the dragons with him. He decided to write a new book of dragons, less about how to fight them and more about how to train them, and I fully supported him in that project.

The raft worked perfectly when I used it to return to Toothless that night. He was surprised when I returned so quickly, but what else was there to do and where else could I sleep? It felt good to know that Toothless would be safe. Nothing could hurt them here.

**Astrid's POV**

"So, what were you two out doing today?" I was talking to Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who mysteriously disappeared along with Fishlegs, who had yet to come back.

"Oh, you know, the usual." Ruffnut answered before her brother could

"And what would that be?"

"Well, dragon training of course." Tuffnut answered. It was an obvious lie, but I didn't call him out on it… yet.

"You trained without inviting me, I'm hurt." I punched him, just hard enough for it to hurt.

"Well, you couldn't come. It was sort of… private, and we were far away… and we figured you didn't want to walk so far to train with us."

"You guys are the worst liars."

I left to find Fishlegs once I realized I would get no information out of them. Fishlegs could be… intimidated more easily, and it was possible that he was a worse liar than Tuffnut. I waited for an hour before realizing that he would not be coming back for a while, and spending my time waiting for him was much less productive than actually looking for him.

So, I left the village to go looking for Fishlegs. Knowing him, he would have stayed relatively close to the village.

It took me a full three hours to find Fishlegs, and he was less than useless. He told me next to nothing about what he was doing, even less than Tuffnut did. I did however, notice a small book that he was carrying. Maybe this book had something to do with why he left.

What I was going to do was crazy. It was nearly midnight, pitch black outside, therefore it was time for me to figure out what they were doing.

Keeping to the shadows, I made my way over to Fishlegs house, knowing that what I was doing was illegal. But surely Berk wouldn't arrest me for something as small as borrowing a book.

I made it all the way to Fishlegs house without being caught. After getting there, I climbed up onto his roof and snatched the book, which was resting on his windowsill, the easiest place to "steal" something. I was down the side of his house as fast as I was up it, and headed home to begin reading this book.

The first page was similar to that of the dragon manual, talking about the different classes of dragons. Was Fishlegs planning on re-writing the dragon manual, and if so… why. It's not like there has been any significant discoveries lately.

I continued reading, and the pages were basically the same as the ones in the dragon manual, albeit without the drawings and with fewer details. There was one thing odd though, there were a few categories I did not expect to see when I looked at the page, including "Favorite Food" and "Dragon Nip Responsiveness."

I had no idea what this dragon nip thing was, but I was curious as to why Fishlegs would completely re-write the book of dragons just to add their… favorite food. What could be so important about this anyways?

I flipped through the pages, each dragon being essentially the same with those few extra details. Some pages had drawings, others didn't.

I continued flipping through the book until I reached the Nightfury page. Unlike the book of dragons, this one had incredibly detailed drawings and information, and this could only mean one thing. Fishlegs had managed to kill, wound, or capture a Nightfury.

This was incredible. The beast wreaked havoc all the time making it impossible to fight the other dragons. If it were to come back, this would surely be useful. 'If it came back'. It had been gone for 3 years now, the same time Hiccup left.

I shook the thought out of my head. Hiccup was in no way related to the sudden disappearance of Nightfuries. Maybe they were… hibernating or something. That would make sense. Fishlegs found a hibernating Nightfury somewhere, and recorded things about it.

She would ask Fishlegs about it tomorrow. I brought the book back to where I got it, and went to bed for the night.

I woke up tired. I dreamed of Hiccup riding a Nightfury, leading the dragons into battle against us. Of course, it was only a dream, but that didn't make it any less frightening.

I stopped Fishlegs on the way to breakfast and began to talk to him about the book.

"So, I saw that book you had."

"You… you did? Well, umm… I… I—"

"It's amazing, where did you get all that information. When that Nightfury comes back, this will no doubt help us kill it."

"Well… thank you. I um… I guess it will, if it comes back."

"Of course it will. It's probably just hibernating or something, it's been gone for three years now, so surely it must—" I began thinking about Hiccup again. I just couldn't get him out of my mind.

"What's wrong?"

"I just keep thinking about Hiccup. You know, he disappeared six months ago, but there's no way Hiccup and the Nightfuries are in any way related. It's must just be a freak occurrence."

For some reason, Fishlegs grinned at this. It scared me. What if this wasn't just a freak occurrence, what if this were something more? I shook my head. I shouldn't be worrying about things that aren't real, I'll only end up confusing myself. But I couldn't help but feel there was more going on here than I could see.


	15. CH14: Drunk Night Furies

**I decided to combine this chapter and the original CH15 together, because this one ended rather abruptly and I felt it better if they were combined. Also, I need input about the last few paragraphs. They are really key to Toothless and Hiccup's relationship, and I want them to be as good as possible, so please notify me if you really enjoyed them or have a way to improve them. **

**Astrid's POV (Yes, I know I wrote a lot from Astrid's POV last chapter, but it's better for the long term plot)**

That evening, I followed Fishlegs into the forest. It reminded me of the time I followed Hiccup a while ago… dang it, not everything is related to Hiccup. I got mad at myself for continually relating things to Hiccup even though they were clearly unrelated.

It took Fishlegs an hour to get to what looked like a dock of some sort, with only one small raft docked at the moment.

Watching from a distance, Fishlegs and Wilson began talking to each other, though I couldn't make out what they were saying. I did hear a few words though, book, dragons, Nightfury… I could only assume they were talking about that book that Fishlegs had made.

After their short talk, they boarded the raft and paddled towards an island. This was a problem. I would have to go there on my own with my own boat, because there was no way I could sneak on their raft without them noticing.

Yes, this was a plan that had to wait until tomorrow. I hated waiting, and every second I waited I was bombarded by my own questions. Where are they going? What are they doing? I couldn't get it out of my head.

I spent some time making a raft like the one Fishlegs and Wilson had, but smaller. It would only need to support one person, not 2 like theirs did. It wasn't difficult, as I had brought my axe with me and all I needed were some small logs and something to bind them together with.

I finished the construction some time later, and hid the raft until tomorrow. I would ride it out to the island early in the morning, hopefully arriving before Wilson woke up. I headed back home, and slept until the morning.

After I woke up, I snuck out. There were still guards at this time of day (or should it be night?), and I avoided them with relative ease.

I arrived at the island before the sun came up but after it had started to get light. It looked like it was about six in the morning, and most people didn't wake up until nine or ten.

I walked around the island forever, finding nothing until a came across a cave. It seemed to be one of the only features on this island other than the trees, and I assumed that Wilson would sleep there. I walked into the cave as quiet as I could, making sure I could not be heard in case Wilson was in here.

I froze in fear when I saw a pair of green eyes, dragon eyes. I couldn't tell what dragon they belonged to, it was pitch black in that cave. The beast growled, but not at me. It looked like it was growling at itself until a human crawled out from under his wing.

**Hiccup's POV**

This was bad. No, bad didn't cover how incredibly… not good this was. Astrid seemed to have taken it upon herself to spy on me, and now that she was here, well.

"What the, what are you doing there you… you traitor!" She was really mad. "Why I would kill you right now for—"

"Enough. Astrid, put down that axe and no harm will come to you." She didn't listen, and ran.

"Dun dun dun, were dead. Come on Toothless, we can't let her run off like that. You know what will happen."

"**Pfft. What are you going to do about it?"**

"Now, let's get her. I don't want her returning to the village and telling them about us."

"**Fine, but if you get yourself hurt…" **He let that thought trail off.

"Come on. We don't have time to waste. ASTRID!" I yelled after her in an attempt to get her to listen to me.

"I'm not listening to anything you have to say."

"Toothless, shoot her raft please. We need her to stay here." He shot a bolt of fire and Astrid looked back in fear. She had no other way off the island. Maybe now she would listen. "Astrid, come back. You have to let me explain."

She sighed, realizing that her only chance was to confront me. "Fine, I surrender. What do you want?"

"I want you to tell nobody of this."

"Fine, I won't, now take me back."

"Astrid, I know the moment you get back you will tell them about this and don't even pretend like you won't."

"Who are you?"

"I'm surprised you don't recognize me Astrid. It's only been a few years."

"No, you lying. You can't be… him."

I smirked. "You just gestured to all of me."

She was taken back. That was basically my catchphrase before I left the village. "But… you can't be him. He was weak, pathetic, and there is no world where he rides a dragon."

"It's been three years now. A lot has changed, more so than you might think."

"It doesn't matter who you are, you're a traitor now, and you deserve to die." Ouch.

"Give me some time to explain and maybe you'll understand."

"Fine, but if you try anything… I'll… do something." She sat down on the rock across from me.

I began telling her the story of how I met Toothless, how I ran away, and everything else. I left out the bit about Darigash, it was my responsibility to keep it secret.

"So, you really did shoot down a Nightfury that day." She said in awe.

"Really, that's all you get from this, that I shot down a Nightfury. God's Astrid. Just go, you're like the rest of them. And don't even think about telling them about Toothless and I, or I can assure you that you will regret it." I brought Astrid back on my raft and left soon after

Toothless started being smug when I got back. **"That went well."**

"Well gee Toothless, thanks."

"**It could have gone worse."**

"I know, I just hoped… I hoped that she would understand. That I wouldn't have to keep you a secret. But it seems like I don't have a choice."

"**Relax, what's the worst that could happen."**

"She could tell people who I was and where we were, Berk would send everyone in the village after us and we would both die."

"**Well, somebody is just full of confidence."**

"We should leave as soon as your wing heals. It was a mistake to come back."

"**Stop being so upset Hiccup. You still have Fishlegs, he loves dragons now. Maybe eventually you can get them to understand."**

"I hope so. I'm going to stay here today. I don't want Astrid to recognize my voice. So… what do you want to do while I'm here?"

Toothless grinned **"I thought you'd never ask."**

I woke up… the next morning. I could barely remember what happened the day before. I remembered talking with Toothless… but then, I just couldn't remember anything.

"Toothless, do you remember what happened yesterday?" The dragon grumbled in response.

"**I think you got really drunk. And I think I did too."**

"Wait, what. What if we told somebody about us on accident, what if I—"

"**Relax. We didn't tell them anything, I think. Anyways, wake up. I can't have you sleeping in all the time."**

"Alright, I'll get up, don't worry." I got to my feet than fell over on Toothless's snout. "Gods, I can barely stand. I'm sleeping in, I can't even walk right now. Whose idea was this anyways?"

"**Fine, you can go back to sleep. Maybe I shouldn't have challenged you to a drinking competition."**

I stared at Toothless, wondering what he was thinking when he did that. "Why? How do you even know what a drinking competition is?"

"**I have my ways."**

"Well fine, be like that. But please move your wing. You keep poking me with it."

"**So, it's just a poke."**

"Do you know how infuriating it is when somebody pokes you repetitively?"

"**No"**

"Then move it"

"**Fine, be like that." **Toothless moved his wing and I fell asleep yet again, not ready to face Berk while so drunk.

I woke up at dusk, just like I would do every day, but this time was different. Toothless wasn't here. I was scared, what if something happened to Toothless, what if he had been attacked. I shoved those thoughts out of my mind and listened for the dragon.

I heard a feint whining sound near me, and found it was Toothless. He was curled into I tight ball and thought he wasn't hurt, he looked extremely sad.

"Toothless, what's wrong? What happened?"

"**N… Nothing"**

"Toothless, please. I can help you, just tell me what's wrong."

"**No, this… this isn't something you can help with."**

"Well what is it. You know I can't bear seeing you like this."

"**Please, just leave me alone. I don't want to talk right now." **

"Toothless, you can't just keep everything bottled up inside you. You have to tell me, otherwise it will just get worse."

Toothless sighed and started talking. **"It… It's about my past, my family. When I was 4, I left home on a hunting trip. I wanted to prove that I could handle myself on my own, but I went the wrong way. I ended up at the queen's nest, forced to be her slave because of it. I still would be if it weren't for you."**

"There's more to it than that."

"**My family, I just want to see them again, to show them that I'm ok. But I don't know where they are. I don't even know if they will accept me." **

"We can go see them if you want. As soon as you're wing is healed, we can go find them."

"**No, we can't. You've got things to attend to here, I can't ignore that just so I can see my family."**

"Toothless, you're more important than anything here on Berk. If we need to travel across the world to see your family, then we will. Don't worry. You're wing is almost healed, we can leave in two days. Until then, I'll see what lies I can fabricate to get them to stay there."

"**Thank you, Hiccup. Not just for this, but for freeing me from the queen as well."**

"We're friends. No, we're more than that. We're brothers, and I will help you in whatever way I can."

"**What do you mean brothers? Our parents are completely different."**

"No, not brothers by blood, but brothers by choice."

"**Thank you… brother."**

"Don't worry about it, that's what brothers do for one another."

Toothless looked lost in emotion, happy, sad, confused, and many other emotions. But above all, he looked relieved. Relieved that I felt the same way towards him as he felt towards me.

I rest my head against his, and kept it there. "Thank you, for everything." I told him. "I may have saved you from the queen, but you have saved me from a more dangerous danger. You saved me from Berk, from myself, from the life that would have happened if we had never met. I will never be able to repay you for what you have done, and you will never be able to repay me, but we can remember that we did it because we care for each other, because at heart, we are brothers."

I felt something wet fall onto my cheek and realized it was Toothless's. He had shed a tear, for me, for us. But it was not a tear of sadness, it was a tear of relief, and with it came the emotions he had been holding sense he had met me.

"Thank you." I said one last time, and I raised my head from his. I felt a bond stronger than even the one holding me and Toothless together for a long time. It no longer mattered how dire the situation, how impossible the circumstances. As long as we had each other, we would be ok.

**I am glad to say now that I have fixed the previous chapters, I will be resuming the nightly 1500 word chapter. I have changed Gyrard's name to Jared, and a few other things. Most of it was small rewriting that made things flow a lot more smoothly. **


	16. CH15: How to Steal A Girl

**Well, I'm glad to be back publishing chapters once a day again. I will continue to publish throughout winter break, so don't worry. I may or may not publish a chapter on Christmas day, based on how much time I have to myself.**

**Hiccup's POV**

I walked into Berk, and was greeted by bad news. Astrid had decided to tell everyone about my existence, and they had held village meeting to decide what to do. Naturally, they decided it would be best to go after Toothless and I, but it seemed that they did not know where the island was, and Astrid was the only one who could help them find it.

This was good. This meant that all I had to do was prevent Astrid from leading them to my island, and everything would be ok.

The village was scrambling around, grabbing weapons to go on a full-fledged dragon hunt. They had declared me a traitor, and I didn't disagree with them. I left the tribe to live with dragons, the tribe's enemies, but not mine.

I had to find Astrid before the hunting party grouped up, and… restrain her I guess. I couldn't trust her after what she had done.

I found her sharpening her axe in Gobber's forge. I guess Gobber had instructed her how to fix weapons, being as there were still raids going on and he must have been flooded with orders.

Astrid heard me and decided to speak. "I found Hiccup in the forest last night, hiding a Nightfury of all things. We're going to find that traitor and kill him and his dragon. He deserves it." She would know the truth soon enough.

It pained me to do what I had to do next, even though I hated her guts. I knocked the axe out of her reach and grabbed her in a choke hold. "Mmph pff faa—". She passed out quickly and I ran, carrying her to the island I kept Toothless.

**Astrid's POV**

I woke up, Wilson standing over me. I tried to move my hands, but found they were tied behind my back. I remember him choking me, I tried calling for help, but I passed out before I could escape.

"Let… me go. You can't just tie me up here, I need to help them find Hiccup. Do you want to be labeled a traitor?"

Wilson took off his helmet and I sat there stunned. "I already have been." No, it wasn't Wilson who took off his helmet, it was Hiccup.

"How…"

"Go to sleep. You're staying here until I sort things out with the village. You can't be trusted."

"That's not fair. You can't just leave me here. I didn't do anything."

"Really. You mean besides from betraying my trust, from telling Berk everything. I have every right to keep you here, and I will do so. Now go to sleep. I don't want to deal with you now."

I rest my back against the rock, resigning myself to my fate. He had already proven that he was a good fighter, and I had no hope of escaping that Nightfury of his. Who would have thought? Hiccup, able to easily beat me. Sounded like some story he would write.

But here I was, tied to a rock on an island guarded by a Nightfury, being held prisoner to Hiccup the Useless, and I could do nothing.

**Stoic's POV**

The funeral was just finished. It had been a week since we had lost Astrid Hofferson, and Berk had been destroyed because of it. She was taken by that traitor Wilson, and we had not seen her since. Once we found Wilson's tracker in the woods, all hope of finding her again was lost.

The village wept, but the weeks passed on, and all of the sudden, the raids just… stopped. There was a raid just as bad as any other about a month ago, and we have not seen one since.

I walked back to my bedroom after a long day of chiefing, and found a note on the floor.

_Dear Father_

_Many things have happened since I left Berk, but I am happy to tell you that I am alive after what has happened._

_I found the nest, and with it a queen the size of a mountain. I defeated it by means I am not allowed to disclose, and I believe that the dragons will leave Berk alone from now on. There should be no more raids, so do not fear for your food anymore. There were a lot of lives lost in the battle against the queen, I got out only missing a left leg. Know that I am alive and well, and that I have finally done something that has helped Berk._

_Your Son,_

_Hiccup_

**No, I will not skip over the red death. The next few chapters will be how Hiccup killed the red death in this story, and this chapter is meant to be more of a preparation for the next few, one of the reasons it is so short. The next chapter will be the usual length of around 1500 words.**


	17. CH16: Behind Bars

**Hiccup's POV**

I had been keeping Astrid in custody for a week now. Every day, I would wake up, help Toothless with his wing, and feed him. I let Astrid up to walk around the island, as I could hardly keep her tied up for a week. "Toothless, I have good news."

**"What?"**

"Your wing has mostly healed now, we should be able to fly back to Darigash before everyone gets worried."

**"What about Astrid?"**

"Well, I guess we can let her return to Berk. Nobody will believe her anyways, and they have no way to track me down anymore."

**"Allright, let's get going. There's no need to wait here longer."**

I walked over to the other side of the island where Asrid was, and began talking to her. "Astrid, me and Toothless will drop you off outside of Berk. We would prefer that you do not tell them about me, but I highly doubt they will believe you anyways."

"What makes you say that."

"You'll see. Now come on. I can't risk spending any more time here."

"I am not getting on that... that thing."

"I didn't say you needed to." I moved the branches of some bushes and got out my raft and it's paddles.

"You had that there the entire time! I could have gotten away..."

"I'm glad you didn't. Now, get on and row yourself back to Berk. It's not that difficult."

I turned back and got on Toothless, making sure his prosthetic and saddle were fine before taking off, watching Astrid get on the raft and paddle back as I left.

"Woooohh. It's been too long since we've had a proper flight bud."

**"I know. Two weeks is way too long for a Nightfury not to fly."**

We flew in the general direction of the Bog-Burglar tribe, where I planned on staying for the night.

After 3 hours of flying while arguing with Toothless about a great many things, we were outside the Bog-Burglar village. It was nighttime now, so we circled the village quietly to find a place to land. While we were circling, I heard shouts down below and saw... my bola launcher! No... me and Toothless had to get out of here before they fired, but we were too late. I heard Toothless screeched as a bola wrapped around his wings for yet another time, and we were flung down to the ground. There was nothing we could do as we hit the ground hard, and I blacked out.

I woke up to blackness, coming to the slow realization that I was in Toothless's wings. He must have wrapped them around me as we fell, probably to keep me from being severely injured. I was about to get up, when I heard footsteps approaching us.

"Where is that dragon, gods, what am I doing." I heard coming from the person who walked towards us. "There you are." he said as he neared Toothless and I. Toothless moved, looking up at whoever it was. "Hey dragon, I won't hurt you... ok. I'm here to let you."

I whispered in Toothless's ear, "What's going on?"

**"We were captured by the people, but I was able to keep them from seeing you. We're in a cell now, and I think their going to execute me tomorrow."**

Of course, this came out as a series of dragon noises, which the person trying to free us took as an 'I wont hurt you either'. "Ok, let me get this open, and, one second, aha!" He whispered in excitement as the cell door swung open. "Come on, follow me."

**"Hiccup, what do we do. I can't let him see you."**

"Just hide me in your wing until I know we can trust him. However you did it when they forced you into here."

Toothless folded his wing under me and walked forwards, practically lying on the ground as he did so.

"That's it, good dragon. Now, this way."

Toothless continued to follow him while holding me tightly. I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing, until the person spoke again.

"Alright, we're safe. Nobody will find us this far away." he said.

**"I trust him. There are no human's nearby, I think he's being genuinely nice. Also, my wing is getting really tired of holding you."**

"How do you know he's not trying to trick us?"

**"How did I know you weren't trying to trick me when we first met?"**

"Fine, I get you're point. But don't just drop me, let me crawl out."

**Benjamin's POV**

I don't know what I am thinking. Rescuing a dragon, our most hated enemy, from my own people. It was shot down and captured, and I helped it escape. I led it into the forest nearly 2 miles from the village, where it could kill me at any time. Yet it didn't. I was fascinated by it, it chose not to kill me because I chose not to kill it. Either there was another force at work here, or dragons are much smarter than we think they are. It turned out to be both

I watched the dragon as it lay down on the grass, seeming to talk to itself for some reason. Maybe it was trying to talk to me, but I could not understand it.

"Don't run." I jumped as I heard a voice coming from the dragon. "It's ok, it's just me." Was that dragon... talking? No, it couldn't be. Not just because dragons cannot talk, but because that voice sounded like a boy only a year older than me.

I watched it closely, and saw something crawl out of it's wing. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you." I sighed in relief, for a moment I thought it was the dragon that was talking to me. At least I can talk to a human. "Who... are you?"

"Oh, my name's Hiccup, and this is my friend Toothless." He gestured to the dragon, I guess they're friends or something. No, that didn't make any sense. "We were... shot down last night, thank you for helping us."

"Umm... no problem."

"Anyways, why did you help us. Last time I checked, all the Bog-Burglars hated dragons."

"Umm... ya. Well, I saw that dragon... Toothless, get shot down and tied up, and I couldn't help but feel bad for him." The dragon nudged Hiccup as if to say I'm fine. "Then, I freed him, knowing he would be beheaded in front of the entire village. When I let him out, I saw how intelligent dragons actually are."

"Well, you better come with us. If the Bog-Burglars find out about what you did, they will come after you."

"How? Why? And where?"

"How? Well with Toothless, he is a dragon after all. Why? Because you are like me. You see that dragons don't need to be killed on sight and actually are intelligent begins. Where? A city, the only place where people live in peace with the dragons. You belong there like I do, and I would be more than happy to bring you back."

"What do you mean... live in peace."

"They live like any human would. Some hunt, some fish, some guard, and at the end of the day they return to us. You would live with Toothless and I, until you could afford a house of you're own."

"You'd really do that for me?"

"You risked your life to help Toothless, few people would risk their lives for a dragon."

"Umm... thanks. We... should get going I guess."

"Alright." Hiccup directed his attention to Toothless. "Let him on, he's coming with us back to Darigash."

Toothless made a few noises and looked in the direction of the spot he crash landed.

"We need to get his saddle and tail fin before we can leave. He took them off so I didn't get found."

So we ran over to a small rock where Hiccup took out his saddle and some sort of device that looked like a prosthetic tailfin. He put them on, and we flew away from the Bog-Burglar village, leaving behind my old life, and risking everything in this new one.


	18. CH17: Return and Berk Yet Again

**Astrid's POV**

I ran into Berk as the sun went down, looking for the chief. If someone were to believe me, it would be him, and if he believed me, so did everyone else. But as I ran through the village, I saw nobody. The village was completely empty, not a soul in sight.

What could have happened while I was gone? Surely they couldn't be dead... "IS ANYONE HOME?!" I yelled out into the village, praying that somebody would hear me.

I heard a response in the distance. "Who's that?" It seemed to be coming over from the docks.

"It's me, Astrid" I said, as I ran towards the docks.

"Astrid! Yer alive?!" I heard somebody say. I think it was Gobber, based on his accent.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be." I said as I reached the docks.

I looked down and saw Berk's fleet, heavily damaged from what could only be dragons. Nearly everyone in the village was on those ships, save the younger kids who must be in the great hall. "What happened?" I asked.

"We were attacked by a man riding a dragon. Can you believe it? He said he was the king of the dragons and then attacked us. I can hardly believe it myself."

Oh god. "Please tell me that he wasn't riding a Nightfury." I said hopefully.

"No, he wasn't. He was on a Monstrous Nightmare. I doubt even he could control a Nightfury. What makes you ask."

I remembered Hiccups's words, considering what he said. 'I highly doubt they will believe you anyways'. He was right. Who in their right mind would believe Hiccup would be able to command a Nightfury? The answer is nobody. "Nothing... just curious." I said as Gobber docked the boats and got off.

"Well it's time for a celebration. Everyone thought you were dead when you didn't come back for an entire week. Thank the gods we were wrong."

I saw my mother running towards me, who promptly picked me up and hugged me. She must have been terrified when I was gone. I hugged her back, I thought I had lost her as well. Everything was right in my world, I could worry about Hiccup later. Right now was the time for celebration.

**Hiccup's POV**

"So, where are we going again?" Benjamin asked.

"A city called Darigash. It's about a week away by boat, but only half a day by dragon."

"Really? Dragon's are that fast."

"Well, he is. Some dragons are slower and some have to rest more. Toothless is probably one of the fastest dragons."

"What dragon is he."

"It's not important."

"Yes it is, why do you say it's not."

"Because I want people to be friends and hang out with me because I'm me, not because of the dragon I ride."

"Oh. Does anyone else know?"

"Jared does, you'll meet him soon. He is a dragon scholar, he teaches people, and I believe he is the only person that knows his species aside from me. I think he's the only person on Darigash, perhaps the entire archipelago, who has seen one other than him.

"How did he find out."

"He found us wounded, that's how I found out about Darigash. I think he just recognized his species."

"Don't you ever get worried that everyone will find out?"

"A lot, actually. Jared may be the only person who has seen another one, but most older people have been attacked by another one at some point."

"Ok then... I guess I'll try to get some sleep."

"Good luck." I said laughing. Sleeping on a dragon while flying is next to impossible.

We arrived at Darigash as the sun was rising above the horizon. It was quiet, the only people awake at this time were the guards, who let me in upon recognizing my face.

I flew down to Jared's floor, and let Benjamin and I in. "Jared, wake up. There's someone I wan't you to meet."

I saw the covers on his bed move, and heard a groan. "Well, look who's back. Only took you a few weeks."

"I never said I would be done quickly, now come on, get up. I need you to meet somebody, and I promise it's not another Timberjack."

"Fine." He mumbled, getting out of bed and looking over at me. "Hello there, who are you?"

"Oh, um... hi. I'm Benjamin. I'm assuming you're Jared."

"Yes, that would be me. So, yet another person who lives in my house. Fun."

I took that as an insult. "Oh, stop complaining. You need the company, you never get out of your house anymore."

"That's my choice. Anyways, nice to meet you Benjamin."

"Uh... you too Jared." Benjamin was terrible at socializing.

"I'll get breakfast ready while I let you guys talk. And Jared, he doesn't know about Toothless, so no telling him."

"You're too humble for your own good." I glared at him. "Fine, fine... I won't tell. Go make something, quickly. I'm starving."

We ate, and talked, and went through our normal routine before showing Benjamin around the village and talking to the council about letting him live here. They agreed, as long as he didn't cause trouble.

Later that day, three scouts came back bruised and battered, as well as their Nadders. I asked them what happened, and they told me it was 'confidential'. Not a minute later, I was called up to the council for the second time that day.

I walked through the council room doors to find the three scouts and head council members talking.

"What do you need?"

One of the scouts spoke up. "Something has happened near Berk. A dragon rider by the name of Zion attacked Berk's ships as they tried to sail to the nest. He claimed he guarded the queen, and that he would destroy Berk in one week."

Another one of the scouts began talking. "We need you to go back and defend Berk, you are the only person here who has a chance of defeating him."

"What do you mean? Surely there are people better suited to help..."

"The queen is powerful, your Nightfury may be the only dragon here who can even damage it."

I sighed, resigning to my fate. "Fine, I will go back. When do I leave and what do I do."

"Go back, tell them everything. Show them that you want to help them, and kill the queen when she attacks. Then, show Berk that the dragons are harmless. If you can do this, return to Darigash. If you cannot, then pray to Odin that the queen does not attack Darigash."

"I'll leave tonight, with two of my friends. They may not be able to damage the queen, but I need them to help."

"Very well."

I left without saying another word,

"What happened?" Jared asked.

"I have to go back to Berk... tonight. The queen seems to have gotten herself a human slave who will attack Berk if I do not kill her."

"Then I will come with you."

"I never said you wouldn't." I said as I directed my attention towards Benjamin. "You go too Merla, tell her I sent you. This is to dangerous for you."

Jared sighed. "And here I thought we were going to stay here, live out a normal life. But no, we have to kill the largest dragon in existence."

"Yeah, basically."

"You make it sound easy."

"I wish." I said, as I hopped onto Toothless's back. "Jared, meet me at Berk with Redwing."

"I'll be right behind you, don't worry."

"I hope so" I said as Toothless took off. I was riding back towards Berk yet again, back to my birthplace, back to face my father.


	19. CH18: Just a Letter

**H****iccup's POV**

I spent the trip back to Berk thinking about how I would introduce myself to my father. It was difficult, I needed to get everyone in the village to trust Toothless, Jared, Redwing, and myself. How I would do that was a complete mystery to me. Should I hide Toothless until the last minute and lie, or should I just fly in and try to scare them into submission. I didn't want to do either, but I really didn't have much of a choice.

I spent nearly two hours debating with myself and still had no idea how to approach it. If I did it wrong, Berk would be destroyed. But, I couldn't spend the entire day thinking about it, so I told Toothless to go to the next island.

After another 15 minutes of flying, Toothless dove down towards the right. We dove inside of a massive cave, diving through tunnels that forced me to use all my concentration on operating Toothless's tailfin.

As Toothless landed, I got off him and looked at the scene before me in awe. There was a massive pillar of ice holding up the ceiling, with almost every species of dragon flying around. Benjamin and I walked over to the edge of a cliff, looking down upon a massive white dragon the size of the queen. "Wow" I said, stunned by everything.

"It's amazing, isn't it." I heard a female voice from behind us say.

"Who are you?" I asked, spinning around to face her. She rode a four winged dragon that I had never seen before, and wore a suit of blue armor

"I think the more important question is, who are you? And who is your friend?"

"I will tell you once you have shown us that you can be trusted." I told her. "In the meantime, I would like to ask for your help. I'm sure you're aware of the queen and her slave Zion."

Her tone took on a much more serious note. "Yes, I have heard of them."

"They plan to destroy Berk, and then the entire archipelago. I need your help to stop them."

"Why should I help Berk? I left them for a reason."

"I did too, but they need our help more than ever. If we kill the queen, the dragon raids will stop, and maybe they can make peace with the dragons like Darigash. If we don't... thousands of people and dragons will die."

"I will talk to the king, he will decide if we can trust you."

"I'm assuming the king is that massive white dragon?"

"That would be correct." She said as she walked over to the edge of the cliff, and the king rose to meet her.

**"What do you need?" **He said. The voice did not sound like when I usually talked to dragons. When I talked to them, it was like reading words. They weren't actually Norse, but they sounded like Norse in your head. This, however, sounded like he was actually speaking Norse.

"Zion and his armada are planning to destroy Berk. We need your help to stop them."

**"Who is 'we'?"**

I stepped forwards. "That would be us." I said, gesturing to Toothless

**"Well then, why do you need my help."**

"Because while we may be able to stop them without you, victory is secured with you on our side, and the number of casualties would be greatly reduced if you helped us."

**"Then I will help. When does he plan on attacking."**

"One week from today."

**"Then I will be there. I need to talk to your dragon quickly." **He directed his attention to Toothless, and began speaking in dragonese. **"Take this, you will need it." **He said, pulling up a black necklace that fit perfectly around Toothless's neck.

**"Why?"  
><strong>

**"I do not know. It was given to me as by an oracle by the name of Toothless, he said you would need it."**

**"Wait... what?" **Toothless and I said at the same time, me speaking in Norse and him speaking in dragonese.

**"That's not possible."**

"Who was the oracle?"

**"I don't remember well, it was a long time ago. There was a light, and then a Nightfury with a human rider appeared out of nowhere. They said there names were Hiccup and Toothless, and they gave me this as they were dying."**

"Was there anything else they told you?" I knew that I would have some sort of message.

**"No, that was all."**

"Thank you, we will meet again in one week."

**"Thank's for the... umm... necklace." **Toothless said, somewhat skittish.

I got on his back as we flew towards Berk, thinking. Where would the message be? I looked down at the necklace and saw a small hole, the perfect size for one of Toothless's scales.

"Toothless, land over there." I told him. "I think I know what's going on."

**"Well, I have no idea. How did we end up in the past?" **He said as he dove down and landed on a small seastack.

"You'll see soon.' I thought to myself, which scale was the key? I knew it was one of Toothless's, but which one?

I thought about it for a minute, then laughed as I realized it didn't matter. Whichever scale I took would be the one I made the lock for in the future. "Toothless, I need one of your scales." I told him. He looked at me like I was crazy. "Just trust me. Any one will do."

**"Here, take this one." **He said as he moved his tail in front of me. I looked and saw one that was falling off, and pulled on it until it came out. He snapped his tail back in pain as it came out, but it was undamaged. "Alright, now I need the necklace."

He turned around and bared his neck at me. I took the scale and put it in the hole on necklace around his neck. It fit perfectly, so I twisted it, and a small roll of paper fell out. Taking out the scale gingerly, I put it into a small pocket in case I needed it later.

**"What happened?" **Toothless asked me.

"Your scale was the key to a message, just like I thought. Here, I'll read it to you."

I unraveled the paper and smiled at my own handwriting. This message was definitely written by me. I sat down and read the message to Toothless

_I know you have a lot of questions right now, and I will do my best to answer them. Like you thought, I am you from the future. Do not worry, you will not die any time soon. I am writing this message on my 500'th birthday (Don't ask how, you will find out soon enough), and am nowhere near the age at which I die. There is little I can tell you without giving away the future, but I can tell you to keep the on. It is more than just a way to hold this message, and you will need it when the time comes. I wish I could tell you more, but little can be said without revealing the future. Keep strong, and stay safe._

_-Yourself, from the future_


	20. CH19: Dagger to the Scales

**Hiccup's POV**

"Well... hmm... that was... unhelpful."

**"So all you told us is to keep on the necklace."**

"Yes... that and apparently we live a very long time."

**"Yeah, I'm not entirely sure how that will happen."**

"I guess we'll see soon enough. Until then, keep that necklace on and let's get to Berk. I don't want to get there after Jared; I'll never hear the end of his taunting."

**"Gods, I don't even want to think about it. Here, put the message back and get on."**

I listened to him, reaching over and putting the note back the way I found it, getting on Toothless afterwards. We flew off towards Berk, attempting to get our thoughts off that message. What was so important about that necklace, and how in the name of Thor do I live 500 years?

We landed in the cove 2 hours later under the cover of the night. I didn't fly anywhere near Berk. After the incident with the Bog-Burglars, who knows what inventions of mine they are using? Best to stay clear and fly around the outskirts.

Jared arrived half an hour later, waking Toothless and I up with his clumsy landing.

"Learn how to fly, that way you don't wake me up next time." I told him as he stumbled to the ground.

"Learn how to sleep, and maybe you won't be woken up so easily."

"Yeah yeah, I'd rather wake too easily than not wake when danger is nearby."

"Speak for yourself, I'm getting some rest." He said lying down on the grass. "What is this place, sure is beautiful."

"It's where Toothless and I first met."

"Well, you couldn't have chosen a more perfect place to do so."

"I didn't chose, Toothless was the one who decided to get stuck in here."

"I don't blame him."

"Come on, lets get some sleep. Tomorrow, we go to the nest to see what secrets Zion is hiding"

"You and your secrets."

"Yeah, I tend to have a lot of those, don't I?"

"That's not what I meant. What do you mean 'I tend to have a lot those'. What are you hiding from me?"

"Well, it wouldn't be secret if I told you about it, so... nothing."

"That seems highly suspicious."

I glared at him. "Get to sleep. Now."

"Fine fine... good night. We can talk about your definitely non-existent secrets later." He said.

* * *

><p>I woke up in the morning to Jared's footsteps. Groaning, I tried to crawl out of Toothless's wing. I failed miserably, and found myself trapped. I needed to get stronger so this didn't happen every day. "Stuck?" Jared asked me in a mocking tone.<p>

"No, I'm completely fine. Just enjoying the comfort of Toothless's wing."

"Really. I guess you don't want help then?"

I sighed, letting Jared have the victory this time. "Fine fine, come help me out."

Though Toothless's wing was only 15 pounds, I was also the weakest viking in existence, and therefore was stuck under it every time he decided to sleep with me under his wing. Naturally, Jared lifted his wing up easily. He was not the the weakest viking in existence, and therefor could lift 15 pounds.

I rolled out through the small gap that Jared had made, and got up. "I made breakfast while you were asleep. It's fish with a side of fish, and some more fish for the dragons." he said. I sighed. Even I got tired of eating fish every day.

We ate breakfast, arguing the entire time over basically anything we could disagree on. After finishing our meals, we waited for Toothless to wake up so we could leave. Lazy dragon.

4 hours later, we entered the fog bank that guarded the dragons nest. The same fog that kept vikings from finding their nest for generations. We nervously entered the fog, letting the dragons guide us through.

**"I don't like this."**

"Neither do I bud. But we have to do this." I whispered. Not even Jared knew about my ability to speak to dragons.

**"Why exactly?"**

"Because if we don't, then we will have no information to plan around. Don't worry, Zion won't find us."

**"I'm not worried about Zion, I'm worried that the queens control will be too strong."**

"Just focus on me. I won't let her get the best of you, I promise."

**"I hope not." **

We dove into the mountain through a small hole and landed on a small outcropping. I had told Jared to wait outside in case things went wrong. Toothless was the master of stealth here.

I looked around, seeing Zion address the queen. I could not here what he was saying, but Toothless repeated his words to help me.

**"What shall I do now, my queen?"**

**"Did you bring back that Nightmare's head."**

**"Yes, here." **He brought out the head and fed it to the queen.

**"Then we must set our next target."**

**"Who?"**

**"Not who, what. We need to find the Archadium Stone."**

Toothless didn't repeat the human the next time. His scales visibly paled, turning from black to grey. "What's wrong?" He didn't respond. "Toothless, come on. Let's go."

The queen spoke again. **"You can find it in the Caves of Deceit. Get it, and our victory is secured."**

"Toothless!" I was concerned now. He was not listening. "We need to go now!" Still not responding, I yanked his ear flaps, trying to get his attention. When I did this before, he would yell at me in pain. Now... nothing.

Coming to the realization that he was in the queen's control, I did the only thing I could to jerk him back in to reality. I got my dagger out, placing it on his scales a foot below his wings. "Sorry, Toothless." I told him as I cut downwards.

He pinned me onto the ground and began charging a plasma blast. Only a moment before he released the blast, his memory caught up to him as he withdrew the blast and got off me. He picked me up with his mouth and ran out of the nest, unable to fly because of the pain. It was a miracle the queen didn't hear us, the other dragons in the nest must have been just loud enough to distract her.

Once we were outside and out of the queen's sight, I walked over to help him with his wound. **"Don't touch me!" **He yelled as I neared him. **"Just go away." **

"Toothless, what's wrong?" I asked him.

**"You."**

"What?" I said, utterly confused.

**"I trusted you, and this is how you repay me? By trying to KILL ME!" **

"I didn't..."

**"I was ready to die for your safety. I called you my brother, clearly you never were."**

"Toothless..."

**"Don't call me that. That's the name you gave me, I don't want anything to do with it."**

"Will you just give me a moment to speak!" I yelled. Toothless stepped back, startled at my anger. He had never seen me like this, and to be honest, neither had I. "One moment, that's all I ask. You have every right not to trust me, but please, just one minute and you'll understand."

**"Fine. One minute. That's all you get."**

"I didn't want to hurt you, you were under... that thing's control. I tried to help you, I used my dagger as a last resort. If I was trying to kill you, do you think I would have stabbed you in the least important part of your body! I didn't kill you back in the forest, what makes you think I would do it now." I sighed. "Stabbing you was the most difficult thing I have ever done."

Toothless looked down, the hatred draining from his face. **"I'm sorry. I didn't... I wouldn't..."**

I walked back over to him and scratched his neck. "It's ok. I forgive you. If our situations were reversed, I would have been just as angry." He sighed, relief washing over him. "Come on now, let me see that cut."

I got out the medicine and began cleaning out the cut and wrapping it.

**"Hiccup, please forget what I said."**

"Toothless, It's fine."

**"But what I said... it was horrible."**

"No, that wasn't you. Please stop beating yourself up over it."

He laid his head back down and let me bandage the cut. Thankfully, it wasn't infected, I don't know what I would do if it was.

**"I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you."**

I stopped for a moment, not knowing how to respond to that. I had always been the one who was inferior, now it seemed to be the other way around. When we first met, I asked myself the same question. This time, he was asking me. It was like watching your idol, someone who you strive to live up to, turn around and say that they wanted to be more like you.

I thought for a moment. I think I don't deserve him because of his physical strength. He must think he doesn't deserve me because of my emotional strength. Seconds passed, and every one he grew more concerned, like I didn't know why he deserved me. I thought more clearly than I had in a long time, and after a minute, it hit me. I gathered my breath, and spoke slowly.

"We are both flawed, but we use our strengths to fill in each other's weaknesses. Where I lack defense, you protect us. Where you lack forgiveness, I help subdue your anger. We are brothers because without each other, we full of imperfections. But when we are together, we fix them."

As I was thinking, he got up and opened his wings, using his feet to bring me in close. Then he spoke, his voice laden with emotion. **"Brother, thank you for everything. You have been there for me when I needed you; know that I will be here when you need me."**

I felt a weight lift off my back that I did not even know was there. As I lay there in his grasp, I realized that he needed me as much as I needed him. The fear that he did not care for me was gone. We just lay there, finding comfort in each other; emotionally exhausted, but with one less weight to drag around.


	21. CH20: Dagger to the Heart

**Well, umm, I have no idea why that chapter decided to break... my guess is that the document saved the HTML5 code instead of the text. Thankfully, that was a notification chapter not a real one.**

**Anyways, thanks to those of you who struggled to read through the HTML5 code and give some suggestions. I have a few ideas on how to go about these next few chapters and will try to incorporate those ideas.**

**The general consensus was "No please don't break their trust" and "The Archadium Stone should turn Hiccup into a dragon", though there are some who are really opposed to the second. I guess I have to find some way to make both polar opposites happy. How hard can it be? (Am I trying to do something that's impossible?)**

**Send help, I'm drowning in decisions that affect everyone who reads this story. If only I could make this story have multiple versions like a chose your own adventure story...**

**A chose your own adventure fanfic. Hmm. That actually sounds like a good idea. Maybe I'll write one some time.**

**Anyways, remember that this is a (very) rough draft, and (almost) everything is subject to change. If people are unhappy with something, tell me in a review or a PM; know that I read all reviews and PM's that I get. I am always looking for suggestions, help, and constructive criticism. Please note that "This sucks." is not constructive in any way.**

**I am not a great writer, I don't expect to be, but I will do my best to improve. Improving requires knowing what to improve on, and that requires your help. Maybe one day I will be a great writer like those who got me started writing fanfic's in the first place. **

**Anyways, the story. Right. Almost forgot about that. Nothing major really happens in this chapter, I want to give you all another day to submit ideas before I he discovers the Archadium Stone and changes basically the entire future of this story, especially sense last time it just broke. So please, ideas. PM or review. I read them all.**

**Toothless's POV (A re-write of the last chapter from Toothless's POV. Don't worry, it's not the entire chapter. Feel free to skip, there's no significant plot points in here).**

We flew down in to the nest and landed on a small outcropping as I watched the scene before us closely. I saw the queen and the human Hiccup called Zion talking to each other. I listened to their conversation and repeated the human's words to Hiccup, as he could not hear him.

"What shall I do now, my queen?"

**"Did you bring back that Nightmare's head."**

"Yes, here."He brought out the head and fed it to the queen.

**"Then we must set our next target."**

"Who?"

**"Not who, what. We need to find the Archadium Stone."**

I froze. That was a legend, one used to keep hatchlings from leaving in out of fear. If the stone was real, and the queen knows it's location...

_(Toothless gets controlled by the queen because he is not focusing on something else)_

I felt a sudden pain in my back as I reared up in pain, turning around and pinning whatever had done this to me. As I looked down at the floor and saw Hiccup's knife, covered in blood... my blood. I charged a plasma blast to kill him for betraying me, but I couldn't. He was helpless, and somewhere in the back of my mind I must have found a reason to let him live, because I drew the unlit gas back into my mouth and carried him out of the cave with my mouth.

Dropping him on the floor, I curled up in the corner. My human, my Hiccup, he had betrayed me. I looked up at him in anger and saw he was walking towards me, trying to finish off what he started. "Don't touch me!" I yelled, scaring him into backing up. "Just leave me alone." I was miserable, I just wanted to be by myself, without him.

"Toothless, what's wrong?"

**"You."**

"What?"

Stupid human, pretending like he didn't know what he did. Did he really think he could trick me in to thinking he was controlled by the queen?

**"I trusted you, and this is how you repay me? By trying to KILL ME!"**

"I didn't..."

Human filth, always trying to lie their way out of trouble. If he thought I would fall for that, he was sorely mistaken

**"I was ready to die for your safety. I called you my brother, clearly you never were."** Gods, saying that hurt, but it was the truth. He was never my brother, he used me for his own advantage. Wait... then why would he try and kill me?

"Toothless..." He said, re-igniting my anger

**"Don't call me that. That's the name you gave me, I don't want anything to do with it."**

"Will you just give me a moment to speak!"

I visibly flinched. Hiccup had never been this mad before. Honestly, I was scared. I didn't want to risk angering him any more than he already was. If he attacked me... wait, what am I saying. He wouldn't hurt a dragon if it were tied up in front of him. So why did he hurt me? It didn't make sense, it didn't add up.

"One moment, that's all I ask. You have every right not to trust me, but please, just one minute and you'll understand."

**"Fine. One minute. That's all you get."**

"I didn't want to hurt you, you were under... that thing's control. I tried to help you, I used my dagger as a last resort. If I was trying to kill you, do you think I would have stabbed you in the least important part of your body! I didn't kill you back in the forest, what makes you think I would do it now." he sighed, a very sad sigh that showed he wasn't lying. "Stabbing you was the most difficult thing I have ever done."

I was taken aback. This was Hiccup, he lived 10 years among people who tormented him every day, he had faced danger in every day life, he had done things I could never do, and hurting me was the most difficult thing he had done.

**"I'm sorry. I didn't... I wouldn't..." **I couldn't finish the thought because Hiccup walked over to me and scratched my neck.

"It's ok. I forgive you. If our situations were reversed, I would have been just as angry."

He couldn't forgive me that easily, right. I mean, I had just tried to kill him. He shouldn't forgive me that easily. I sighed. This was Hiccup, he forgave everybody for everything. I'm not sure what I really expected.

**"Hiccup, please forget what I said."**

"Toothless, It's fine."

**"But what I said... it was horrible."**

"No, that wasn't you. Please stop beating yourself up over it."

**"I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you." **I thought to myself, only realizing that I had said it out loud when he stopped moving. He didn't respond, worrying me. Did I really not deserve him?

"We are both flawed, but we use our strengths to fill in each other's weaknesses. Where I lack defense, you protect us. Where you lack forgiveness, I help subdue your anger. We are brothers because without each other, we full of imperfections. But when we are together, we fix them."

I noticed his shyness at saying those words, and how he did not look at me as he said them. Everything fell into place, a sudden understanding washing through me. He thought he didn't deserve me. I tried to comfort him the best I could, pulling him into my grasp and covering him in my wing. **"Brother, thank you for everything. You have been there for me when I needed you; know that I will be here when you need me."**

I didn't feel his relief, I just noticed it. In the way he streched out slightly, in the way that gripped me ever so slightly tighter. I was just glad that I could finally give him something back.

*****Done with the retelling, from now on things are (more) important*****

**Jared's POV**

"Where are they?" I said quietly to myself. Redwing was behind me, affectionately headbutting me as she noticed my concern. "Should we go after them?" I asked her, knowing that she may not be able to understand the individual words, but would get the general idea.

In response, she knocked me up on to her back, flying towards the nest. We circled it a few times before seeing Toothless on a small field below, a small puddle of blood under its left wing. "Oh gods." I said. If Toothless was wounded, then Hiccup...

No, he's got to be alive. "Toothless!" I shouted down at said Night Fury, diving over to his side to make sure the wound was ok. It had been bandaged, probably by Hiccup. Thank the gods, he was safe.

"Where's Hiccup?" I asked him. If he was stuck on another island, then I would have to fly over to him and get him. I saw Toothless's wing move and a voice came from below it.

"I'm fine Jared. Just a bit... emotional right now."

"What happened?"

"Long story. We need to leave, I'll tell you later."

"Can Toothless fly with that wound?" Hiccup visibly cringed as I said that.

"I think so, right bud?" Toothless grumbled happily, apparently fine. "He can fly, but try to keep it short."

"I'll try my best."

I flew away, Hiccup and Toothless following close behind me. It was only 5 minutes of flying, but Toothless was heaving as we landed on a small island in the middle of the sea.

"You're sure he's alright?"

"He can fly, but it hurts." Hiccup said as he looked down at Toothless guiltily.

"So, you know that 'long story' you were going to tell me about later."

"Yeah yeah, fine." he said, lowering himself down on Toothless. "After we left, we landed on a small outcropping. We were lucky, arriving just when they started talking. It was mostly pointless, until the queen said to 'go after the Archaduim Stone'."

"What's that?"

"No idea. Anyways, the queen somehow got control of Toothless, and I had to stab him to bring him out of it. He nearly killed me in anger, but we made up. Right after, as we were being really emotional, _somebody_ riding a Nadder decided to interrupt us."

"Who?" I was genuinely confused. There was another rider around here?

"You, you idiot."

"Oh. Right."

Hiccup scoffed at me. "Anyways, Zion was leaving as we left. We need to go after him, and quickly. Whatever that Arcadium Stone thing is, it's not good."

"Shouldn't we give Toothless some time to rest?"

"Yeah, half an hour should be good. Then we leave to the "Caves of Deceit". Apparently the stone is there somewhere."

"Alright. Half a hour, then we leave." I yawned, watching Hiccup curl up under Toothless's wing the way he always does. I laughed to myself. He spends more time sleeping on Toothless then flying with him. I rest my head on Redwing, and passed out.

**Hiccup's POV**

I woke up as Toothless moved his wing and got up, dropping me in the grass. "Thank's for nothing, you useless reptile." I told him. He just laughed at the sight of me and the mud that was all over my clothes.

Jared was laughing to, and decided to chime in. "Do you prefer me waking you up, or Toothless."

"Neither. I never want to wake up." I said, laughing.

"Come on, get up. The half hour is over. Grab a fish and lets get flying."

"Toothless, you ready?"

**"Yeah, I think I'm fine."**

"Alright then, lets go." I said, grabbing a fish and hopping on his back.

**"Somebody's full of energy."**

"Well, I'm certainly not tired after you dropped me in the mud."

He laughed at me. Stupid reptile.

"Come on Jared, your slower than I am today. And to think I'm supposed to be the lazy one."

"Ok... ok... fine. Rush me if you must."

"Oh I most definitely will." I said as me and Toothless took off, leaving Jared behind.

I heard a call out from behind me. "That the wrong way you idiot." I looked down at Toothless, who was clearly suppressing a grin.

"Come on, other way, now."

**"You're too up-tight."**

"I know I am. But this is serious, if we mess up..." I let that thought trail off.

**"You also worry too much, take too much responsibility, blame yourself for everything, and so on."**

"Toothless, not now."

**"Hiccup, what's wrong. You're not acting like you normally do."**

"It's just a dream" I lied. I knew exactly why, I just didn't want to tell him. "Come on, lets go. We shouldn't keep Jared waiting."

We turned around, following Jared as to not get lost. Being a scout, he knew the locations of everything. As we flew on, I played back the queen's speech in my mind. What did she say while I was distracted. Suddenly I remembered.

_"Don't let anyone know about this. If we don't find the stone, the young queen will not survive."_

What did she mean the young queen? Dragon's passed authority through birthright just like humans.

_"Of course. You saved my duaghter's egg, you will lead besides her."_

**Annnd blatantly obvious foreshadowing is blatantly obvious. The queen has a daughter. Fun.**


	22. CH21: Too Easy

**Hiccup's POV**

If the queen had a daughter... I shuddered. Just another thing to add on to my long list of impossible goals. All I have to do is stop Zion from getting to the Arcanium Stone, free the dragon's from her control, and kill the largest dragon in existence. How hard can it be?

Well, I guess I'm about to find out. We were finally approaching the 'Caves of Deceit' after two hours of flying, apparently the tone was held here somewhere. I silently prayed that we had got here before Zion. If the stone was as dangerous as Toothless thought it was, then we need to keep him from getting to it.

"Well, there it is. The Caves of Deceit. I guess it's time to find out what that stone thing is." Jared said as we flew downwards.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Toothless and I followed him as he flew into the cave. It was small, requiring tight maneuvering to dodge the stalactites and stalagmites that were everywhere. It went on like this for a while, until it opened up into a massive cavern.

It was like nothing I have ever seen before. The walls were covered in vines as thick as Toothless is wide, glowing all shades of the rainbow. They snaked along the walls of the cavern, which could easily fit the entirety of Berk, all of them leading into the center of the cave. They attached to a pile of vines the shape and size of a mountain, with blue orbs attached to it.

There was only one thing I could say we landed on one of the smaller vines. "Wow."

"Yeah, no kidding. Look at this place, its massive."

**"Umm, Zion's right over there." **Toothless said, drawing me out of my awe-struck state.

I looked where Toothless was looking and saw him walking into the structure in the middle, the Nightmare he must have flown here burning it's way through the vines.

"Look over there, Zion's burning through the vines. You think the stone could be somewhere in there?" I asked

"Well, there's one way to find out." He said as he got on Redwing and flew down towards Zion.

"What are you doing?" He didn't answer. "Some day he's gonna get us all killed." I mumbled to Toothless.

**"I noticed. Come on, let's go figure out what he's doing."**

I got on to Toothless's back as he followed Jared, who decided it would be a good idea to go up and _talk _to Zion. We stayed back and watched from a distance, listening in to their... conversation.

]"Who are you?" Zion asked, pointing a staff at Jared

"Did the queen not tell you about me? She told me to help you get the Archanium Stone." What? Did he work for the queen? Is he insane?

"I do not need any help. Go back to her."

"She told me to come back with the orb or I would lose my head. You know how she is, I'd rather not disappoint her."

"You disrespect the queen?" He asked in a threatening tone.

"Not at all, but she does tend to threaten me with my life a lot."

"Good. Stay back there while I go after the stone. Do not get in the way."

"Is the stone in there somewhere?"

"Yes, in the center. Has the queen not filled you in on this at all?"

"Nope. She just told me to help you or die. I guess she figured you would tell me the details."

I watched, impressed at his skills. He had managed to maneuver himself into a position where Zion would tell him everything about the plan without even realizing he was talking to a spy. It was genius, and Jared was a great actor.

"The details? It's pretty simple actually. Get the stone and bring it back to her. She knows how to use it's powers."

"Is that all?"

"She said the stone can be found in the center of this... thing. Apparently, once she has the stone, she can use it to ascend to godlike powers and destroy the entire archipelago. I'm sure if you help, she'll give you a place to rule like she did for me."

Well, if anything could make me even more desperate to stop the queen from getting the stone, this would be it.

"Seems like a good plan. You may need the extra help, god knows what's in there."

"Come along then. Bring your Nadder along too, in case we have to fight."

He walked forwards through the opening he had created, Jared following closely behind.

"Uhh... Toothless.. what do we do?"

**"We follow them, of course. Then we help Jared steal the stone once he gets near it."**

"Alright then. Stay far behind them, you could be easily seen in the blue hue those plants create."

**"No problem. Stay behind Jared, fight Zion, take the stone. Easy enough."**

"You're almost as sarcastic as me sometimes. Come on, lets go."

Toothless followed just like I told him too, staying as far back as possible without losing sight of them. The inside of the plant-mountain was just as impressive as the outside, blue orbs hanging off and magical-looking dust floating around in its massive hollow insides.

In the center, there was a small pedestal with a small stone on it. Actually, it was more like a small pebble. I don't know what I expected, but when I heard about something as powerful as the 'Archanium Stone', I expected something a little more than a small pebble.

I heard Zion talking to Jared once again. "Well, there it is. Our salivation."

"I expected it to be a little more... impressive."

"Does it matter. If it gives me land, I will take it." He said as he walked up to the pedestal, reaching out his hand.

"Don't take it, it's been too easy. There's got to be a trap or something; nobody would leave such a valuable object unprotected."

He quickly snapped his hand away. "You're right, but where?"

"I don't know where, I just have a feeling that there is. We should leave, tell the queen something's not right. I'll stay here and make sure nobody touches it."

"Why should I trust you not to take it and all the glory for yourself."

"I'm not suicidal. There's a catch somewhere, and I don't want to be killed as much as you do."

"Alright then. Stay on the lookout. I'll be back soon."

"Stay safe, my friend."

As Zion got on his Nightmare, Toothless and I ducked and hid under one of the massive leaves nearby. He didn't see us and continued flying towards the nest.

Once he was out of sight, I got up and walked towards Jared. "You sir, are a genius."

"Why thank you. Lets get the stone and get out of here, there's no traps, Redwing checked already."

"Sure thing." I said as I walked up to the podium and took it, putting the now glowing blue stone in my pocket. "See if you can find a similar looking stone while I work on making it look like you were attacked. We can probably trick Zion into taking just any regular pebble."

"Good idea." He said as we worked on our tasks. Pulling out a dagger, I cut myself and made a small puddle of blood in the corner while Toothless shot the walls to make it look like Jared was attacked. Jared found a very convincing looking pebble and putting it on to the podium, and we left shortly after.

**Yes, so this chapter had no action. I thought about it for a minute before realizing that Hiccup wouldn't just go in there and try and kill Zion, he would do everything in his power to get the stone non-violently. The next chapter will (Hopefully) be a bit more exciting, eventually building up to a sort of 'final battle'. Sorry about the disappointing update, I can't upload an interesting, exciting, and well written chapter all the time.**

**Also, I need to ask another question of you guys. What should the stone... do? As of right now, it's just sitting there being the most powerful weapon in existence, yet not even I know why yet. PM me if you can, I don't want to fill the review section like last time.**

**Ah, and one last note. I have a lingering feeling that I'm making silly mistakes like calling the stone 'the cube' and other things along those lines. Tell me if you see any.**


	23. CH22: Berk Again Thrice Over

Hiccup's** POV**

It was halfway through the week, the sun high in the sky and the lingering fear of what I had to do next. I had the Arcanium Stone, a dragon armada controlled by that woman in blue armor, and Toothless. The only thing that was missing was Berk, and their allegiance would probably be the most difficult one to forge.

Honestly, would they even listen. To them, I was still Hiccup, the boy who ran away, the boy that had caused so much destruction to their property. Following me into battle would be the last thing they did, not even mentioning Toothless. If I wanted to even have a chance of their help, so many things had to be done perfectly. I needed to hide my identity, prove that Toothless and Redwing are not threats, show that they are in danger, and convince them to prepare to defend against something they have not even seen.

So as Jared and I flew into Berk, my hesitation was quite understandable. I had kept putting it off; and now was the time. We had talked and discussed and theorized, and our plan just might work, though the vikings we were talking to were quite difficult to reason with. If someone came up to us and said 'by the way, there's a giant dragon that's going to attack you in half a week', we would begin preparing in an instant. Berk, however, has... stubbornness issues.

My thoughts were interrupted by the shouts of vikings below us, preparing their weapons and getting ready to fight another dragon raid, albeit in the middle of the day. Toothless and I dived down, followed by Jared and Redwing, and landed in the center of Berk where the men have gathered.

The men got ready to attack as we landed and dismounted, weapons being drawn and spears being holstered. "Put down your weapons, we mean no harm." Jared spoke. He was quite the commanding figure when he needed to be. "We have come to speak with your chief, Stoic the Vast."

I watched as my father stepped out of the crowd. "Leave. We have no business with traitors like yourself."

"Be that as it may, you are all in danger. We are here to help, not fight."

"Dragons don't help vikings."

"They do when they have a common enemy."

"And who would that be?"

"The queen. She forces them to raid Berk with a form of mind control, and has decided to attack directly. Trust me when I say that almost all dragons would gladly die to get a chance to fight her."

"How do we know that you are telling the truth?"

"Because that dragon rider that attacked you in the ocean is her servant."

"You are also riding dragons."

"But we are not servants of the queen."

"And how would we know that?"

I dropped into the conversation at this point. "Look Stoic. If we are lying and you listen, then you waste a bit of time defending against nothing, and the defenses you have up will help against the next dragon raid. If we are telling the truth and you don't listen, then there will be massive casualties on your side, to the point where Berk will probably perish. Do you see my point?"

"I want the war council gathered in the great hall in half an hour, including you two. We will discuss this there. Meanwhile, I want these beasts out of Berk. I will not have them walking among my people."

"Fair enough." I directed my attention to Jared. "Take Toothless and Redwing to the forest and meet me in half an hour."

"Alright, see you then." he said as he led the dragons down into the forest.

I turned around and saw that everyone was returning to their daily routine, silently thanking my father for not being stubborn today.

The half hour passed without anything significant occurring, only a few minor fights with some particularly disagreeable vikings. Jared stayed besides me as we walked up the stairs into the hall, and opened the door to the meeting.

The hall was more or less as crowded as I expected, with 20 or so vikings sitting around a long table with two open spots for Jared and I. There were a few familiar faces in the seats, the most notable being Gobber, who sat down next to Stoic.

We took our seats as the meeting began with Stoic's introduction. "We are here to discuss how to prepare against the queen. Let the meeting begin."

Someone in the crowd spoke first. "How do we prepare for something we do not know about. We have never seen the queen."

"Well, she's like most other dragons, but bigger." Jared said. "We don't know her exact size, but her mouth is slightly larger than this room when fully opened. We have not seen her body."

"How can we fight something that's that big?" One of the other vikings said in astonishment.

"We have an ally who commands somewhere around a 500 dragons, and we should be able to free the dragons enslaved by the queen, so about a thousand dragons in total."

"What if the dragons attack us instead of the queen?"

"They won't. Like I said earlier, almost all dragons would die for the chance to fight her."

"Almost all?"

"Some dragons that have riders would rather die protecting their human instead of fighting the queen, but there are only few. Anyways, a thousand dragons should be plenty, don't you think?"

"So what are we supposed to do?" Stoic asked, ignoring my sarcastic question.

Jared answered this one. "Get as many catapult-esq weapons as you can set up and ready to fire. Don't bother arming yourselves with swords or spears, one man can do nothing against that thing."

"Any oppositions?"

Nobody spoke.

"Gobber, get the men ready. I want to speak with these two in private."

"Aye Stoic, I'll get right on it"

The room was empty not 5 minutes later.

"That went better than I expected" I told Jared as we walked into the forest. "I expected him to try and kill us the moment he saw the dragons."

"Well, I'm glad he didn't. Having to fight them as well as the queen would be a nightmare."

"I'm still worried. What if that woman doesn't show up. We don't stand a chance without her.

"She will show up... you just worry too much."

"I wouldn't if I didn't have the fate of the entire archipelago resting on my decision. One wrong move and people die."

"Well then don't make any wrong moves."

"Easy for you to say."

"Hiccup... I know I can't understand how you feel right now, but at least try not to be dragged down by this. You won't make the wrong decisions because you are smart, and when the time comes for those decisions to be made, you will make the correct one."

"Thanks."

"Come on then, lets hurry up. Toothless is probably worried like he always is, and I know that he can do a better job comforting you than I ever will."

We picked up the pace and jogged through the forest, leaping over roots and weaving through trees. Running has always been one of my favorite things to do, it's like flying in a way. The freedom, the exhilaration, and the feeling of wind rushing through hair.

Tomorrow, I will worry about the never ending list of things that needed to be dealt with or worried about. Tonight, I can just enjoy myself, enjoy being free, and enjoy being with friends whom I think of as family.

Because if family is someone who cares for you unconditionally, Toothless and Jared have been a far better family than I could have hoped for back in Berk.

**This chapter was going to be a bit longer (and come out at not midnight), but my internet broke and I had to type the last 400 or so words on my phone. I was going to write another 600 or so, but I ****guess my router has other plans for me****.**

**Still looking for suggestions for the Archanium Stone. **


	24. CH23: War

**Hiccup's POV**

_(3 days later; the morning of the attack)_

Today is the day I lead humans and dragons to war against a demon. Today is the day I kill, not out of hatred, but out of necessity. Today is the day I am forced to be the man my father always wanted me to be, a strong leader, and a trained killer.

So as you can imagine, I wasn't in the best of moods as I flew into Berk with Jared and Redwing, landing just outside the chief's house. I walked through the door to get my father, finding instead an empty hall. He must have left to talk to his men before the fight, I guess an inspirational speech was in order, and I would hardly be the one to give such a thing.

As it turns out, he was giving a speech, though not an inspirational one. I found him outside near Gobber's forge bellowing about how they would shooting at the demon they called a queen, and to defend the catapults at all costs.

Everyone waited, pretending to be busy even though in reality, they were ready to attack. While today was the day of the fight, we still had no idea at what time it would come. I sorted out that issue with that woman in blue yesterday, she said she would send three scouting dragons that would alert us when the queen neared.

She wasn't lying. A small blue terror came flying into Berk at midday, saying that he saw the queen 10 miles away and that she would be here in less than 15 minutes.

"Get the men ready to fight, the queen is coming soon." I told my father, and he ran around yelling orders at his men, telling them to man the catapults and other things they needed to do to keep casualties to a minimum. I may be able to lead a war, but I would never be able to run one.

Toothless and I anxiously watched from the top of the houses as the queen approached. Everything was at stake, one mistake would mean the difference between life and death, not just for me, but for possibly the entire archipelago.

"Dragons sighted sir, should we attack?" I heard a man below us ask my father.

"No, not until you see the queen."

The minute I watched the dragons approach was one of the most fearful I have spent. The second I saw the queen emerge from the water not 50 feet from Berk's coast was the most terrifying I had experienced.

All that could be heard were the shouts below, people ordering each other around, the terror clear in their voices. The catapults launched seconds after she got up, knocking her back down into the water.

I watched as I saw the dragons under her control attack Berk mercilessly, the hundreds of vikings below barely outnumbering the number of dragons. Toothless and I immediately jumped off to help the vikings defend the catapults that were firing at the queen. A wall had been formed, a wall armed to the tooth with hammers, swords, and shields.

The forces collided, a line of vikings with a line of dragons. This was what war was, senseless death on both sides, fighting for what they believed was right. Toothless and I stayed back to stop any lucky dragons who got through, I didn't want to risk him getting injured in the bloodbath.

Things took a turn for the better when the king arrived not a minute after the fight started. His presence was able to free the dragons that were fighting and get them to fight the queen instead, who was getting up and trying to push through the barrage of boulders being thrown at her.

I watched as the dragons got up and flew at the queen, followed by the ones the woman in blue had brought. They attacked with ferocity, nearly a thousand of them surrounding the queen and firing at her. Even she was not tough enough to withstand that kind of punishment.

As the queen was being attacked, scales being ripped off and holes being torn in her wing, she charged towards the king, leaving the other dragons who were attacking her unable to defend him. She rammed the king full force, catching him in the stomach and making him fall backwards. Toothless and I were already flying to help, but even we were not fast enough.

A massive crack echoed through the air as I looked down in horror. The king lay dead on the ground, the crack was the sound of bones breaking. Blood was pooling all around him, and the dragons that were attacking the queen... just stopped.

The queen was injured, but without the king, we could do nothing to stop the oncoming mass of mind-controlled dragons.

I turned around to the vikings, who were running around with their weapons to try and defend themselves. "Do not fight, run and hide." I told them. "Get to your homes and protect yourselves."

Everyone listened, running to their families who were in danger of being attacked by the dragons. I saw Jared running towards me as he heard my voice, and I breathed a sigh of relief that he was still alive.

"Come on Jared, we need to go to the forge. If we don't, this might be the last day Berk is here." I told him.

"I... I can't."

"Why?"

"Redwing... she flew away... I..."

"Get on Toothless then. I'm sorry about Redwing, but if you want to get her back, then we need to get to the forge."

It took a second, but Jared sloppily got on Toothless behind me holding on to him tightly as we took off and flew after my father, who had retreated to the forge. I needed to talk to him, make a plan, anything to prevent the destruction of Berk.

We dodged the dragon's that attacked us, flying faster than we ever had before, and made it to the forge in half a minute. I ran inside with Jared, finding my father and Gobber hiding inside my old room in the forge. "We need to do something quickly, I won't let this village die like this." He said

"I know, I have an idea." I told him, and began looking through my old drawers for some plans for an invention I made a long time ago. I found some papers with some drawings that looked like it in the third drawer from the bottom. I took them out and splayed them across the table, reading out their names as I looked for one in particular.

My eyes widened as I saw it, and the critical error I made when it exploded the forge when I was little. I quickly fixed that and gave Gobber the blueprints. "Gobber, I need you to make this part." I told him as I circled the change I had made, a small, slightly curved iron bar that held it together. "Do it quickly, and we might just be able to kill that monster."

"What do you mean, this is just one of Hiccup's broken inventions."

"Well, this one might just save everyone's lives. Now go, do it quickly. We don't have much time." I told him, and he ran to the forge and began heating up some metal and pounding it into shape.

I looked under my old bed and found what I was looking for, a finished model that I never got to test out. As I picked it up, I heard yelling from outside, and quickly ran out there.

I saw Astrid being held down by a Monstrous Nightmare, and I ran over to help her. I reached her just before the dragon shot its fire, tackling it to the ground. I heard Stoic shout behind me, and Astrid ran towards the forge.

Toothless came out running after me and attacked the Nighmare. He tackled it to the ground, but it rolled out from under him and shot his prosthetic, lighting it on fire. The Nightmare almost bit him in the neck with its teeth, but Toothless was too fast and managed to dodge it and kill it in the second it was vulnerable.

**"Get back inside now." **He told me, obviously angry at me.

I ran back to the forge to find that Gobber was almost finished with the strip, so I got the device out and instructed Toothless to breath gas into it without lighting it on fire.

Soon, I was running out of the forge after the queen, carrying the device with the new strip attached to it. Toothless helped me out on the ground, allowing me to get to her much faster then I would without him. As we approached her, I got onto the roofs of buildings to get higher up.

"It's time." I said as I got on Toothless and prepared for what would happen next. He took a step back, and ran as fast as he could, jumping off the roof at the last minute. He used his wings to fly up higher, and I got out the device and attached it to the queen without her noticing. We began falling because he had no prosthetic, but it did not matter, the device was attached.

I got up in pain from the landing, Toothless had sustained the worst injuries. Nothing he got would be permanent, but there were long scratches along his body and he was bruised heavily. I saw Jared next to me, helping me stand.

"Jared, we need to get inside that cave." I told him, pointing to the cave I was talking about. "Help me get Toothless."

He did, and together we were able to drag Toothless's mostly limp body into the cave; the ground angled downwards so we were able to basically roll him down hill. He wouldn't like it when he woke up.

I counted down from 10 in my head as we dragged Toothless as far as we could down into the cave. At 3, we got down and hid behind another small rock, and at 0, I heard the device trigger. It ignited the gas inside of it and created an explosion that lasted a few seconds, temporarily blinding me.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the world returned to it's normal colors. "Come on, get up. We need to make sure the queen is dead."

He did, and we walked out of the cave, myself leaning on his shoulder. Getting down as we approached the mouth of the cave, I took my first look at the damage.

The queen lay on the floor, flattening the houses she fell on. Most of Berk was on fire from the blast, and people were working hard to stop the fires before they got out of hand. I smiled in relief, until I took a closer look at the queen.

In my haste, I must have messed up, because the my invention had clearly fallen off before it exploded.

Then she moved.

The ground shook.

And then she got up.

Despite the pain in my limbs, I ran back to Toothless as fast as I could. That bomb was our last hope...

And it had failed. It had failed because of me.

I shook Toothless awake and he groaned in pain, barely even able to move. "Toothless, we need to go."

**"I can't"**

"Please Toothless, I know it hurts, but if we don't go now... then we will die."

He tried to get up, falling down as soon as he was on all four legs. "Come on bud, we'll help you, but we need to go." I shuddered as the ground shook beneath us, and I heard the fire burning down the houses. "Now"

He got up again, leaning on me to make it easier. Jared came over and helped Toothless up, and practically ran into the forest, the hills and trees drowning out the yelling, the hopeless commands.

It was over.

The battle had been fought.

And we had lost.

**I would like to take this space to say sorry to those of you who are infuriated by this. All I can say is that if you are, read the spoilers. If you are fine with this, then there is really no need to read the spoilers, though I know that 90% of you will anyways.**

***** SPOILERS *****

**THIS IS NOT AN ANGST STORY**

**I have planned out the story line (to an extent), and while the characters that are dead will stay dead, this story will not end like this.**

**A note about what characters die and which ones live.**

**All Berkians die except for Fishlegs, Gobber, and maybe Stoic. I'm not sure on him yet.**

**Valka (the woman in blue) - Lives**

**Jared and Redwing - Lives**

**Hiccup and Toothless - Lives (though I guess you could say that they died in the past, but lets just not go there. I see no need to confuse people with time travel) **


	25. CH24: All of the Sudden, Valka

**With school coming back into full swing, I have decided to change my update schedule. I will be uploading Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If I have the time, I may upload on Monday or Wednesday. I hope you all don't mind too much, but I (unfortunately) cannot write a chapter a day like I used to. Back then, the chapters were 700-900 words. Now, they're 1500-2000.**

**For those of you who noticed how Toothless fell out of the sky without getting hurt when he was shot out of the sky in the beginning, yet now he is barely able to walk, blame Hiccup. When he was shot down, he landed on soft grass coming to a (realitively) slow stop, and didn't have to angle himself to protect Hiccup.**

**One more thing, when I say all Berkians die, that means they all, actually, legitimately, die and don't come back (except the few exceptions I mentioned in the last afternote). Sorry again to those of you who are upset by this.**

**Hiccup's POV**

We slowed down to a walking speed once we were outside of Berk. Toothless was stumbling on three legs as one of them had been broken in the fall, and I wasn't in the best shape either. But the pain was drowned out by the guilt, that because of a stupid mistake that could have been fixed in a second, Berk was being destroyed. The screams and shouts in the background may as well have been directly caused by me, and now there was nothing to stop Zion and the queen from destroying Darigash.

One second, slightly more force, a stronger case, all of these would have killed her. But I made a mistake, the mistake that I believed I could not make. I have failed everyone, and it was all my fault. They relied on me, they trusted that when things went bad, they trusted I would rise up to the challenge. But I couldn't, I betrayed all of them, and they could do nothing to help. There was no reason for me not too, and now I had lost everything.

I snapped out of my thoughts what Jared spoke in front of me. "We need to stop here and rest. You and Toothless can't keep going like this." We had been walking for the best part of an hour now, and I saw that we were next to the cove.

I nodded hastily, a quiet "Alright" coming out of my mouth. Toothless stopped leaning on us and lay down on the floor, as Jared walked over to a nearby rock and lay against it, attempting to ignore the events that had passed to get some sleep. I walked over to Toothless and lay down next to him, not daring to rest against him in fear of hurting him even more than I already had.

I lay down and kept thinking, thinking about how little choice everyone else had, that no matter how much they wanted to help, all they could do was rely on me... and I had failed them. Failing before meant some damaged houses, less food, and a scolding from my dad. Failing now meant letting everyone I knew down, those who trusted me, those who looked up to me, and those who understood me.

I thought back to Fishlegs and the twins, so fascinated by Toothless and so willing to understand, now laying dead on the streets, their faces still holding that expression of amazement. I thought back to my father and Gobber, they put their trust in me, willing to help me because they believed that I could fix things, now fighting for their lives, probably dead... and it was all my fault.

I heard Toothless behind me, reminding me that I still had a reason to fight, a reason to stop that monster. **"It's not your fault Hiccup. Don't blame yourself."**

I sighed, wishing that statement was more than an attempt to make me feel better. I wished more than anything that I wasn't the one to bring Berk down in flames the same way I did when I was young. I wished that just this once, my invention would have worked, that the queen would have died; but she didn't, so it _was_ my fault.

Toothless heard my sigh and used what little strength he had left to wrap me in his wings. It was the one thing that he knew would help me, and it had worked time and time again through tough times, though never as tough as this.

Here, in Toothless's wings, I don't have to hold up the act of being a leader or a fighter. I can be myself, let my emotions go, maybe even relieve some of the guilt that was weighing me down. Here, I have someone who understands, someone who will help me, someone who still believes in me even after everything I have done. Here, there was only Toothless and myself. I didn't have to worry about being seen as weak, I could let down the defenses I had set up for myself to make myself seem strong.

I feel asleep in Toothless's wings, letting my tears carry away the worries, the fears, and the guilt. I needed to be strong tomorrow; that meant being weak tonight.

* * *

><p>I woke up screaming, a nightmare that left me a long time ago resurfacing itself. I felt Toothless wake up and pull me in closer, doing what he could to help me calm down. "I'm fine bud, it's just a nightmare." I told him with a shaky voice.<p>

**"I know. It's been a long time sense you've had one."**

"I'm sorry for waking you up."

**"It's fine. I know your upset, you have every right to be, and we needed to get up anyways."**

"What do you mean... ooooh." I said as I noticed the light streaming through his wings.

**"We should leave soon."**

"You're in no shape to fly."

**"Well we need to hide from the queen. If she finds us..."**

"Do you feel good enough to walk?"

**"I should be fine."**

"Alright then, lets get up."

He opened his wings, cold air streaming through and vibrant colors stinging my eyes. The sight of the cove greeted me after my eyes adjusted, and I got up, walking towards Jared who was still sleeping on a rock.

Shaking him didn't wake him up, so I walked over to the small lake and cupped some water in my hands, throwing it at Jared before it drained out through the cracks.

"AH... what the... HICCUP!"

"Sorry, you wouldn't wake up." I said sheepishly.

"And I should believe that because...?"

"Because you don't have much of a choice."

"One of these days." he said, mumbling to himself.

"Anyways, Toothless is feeling better; we should get a move on."

"Don't you think we should go back and check for survivors? There may be people who need our help."

"No, two people and a grounded dragon don't have a chance at finding anyone. If somebody survived, then they would be far away from Berk right now."

"We can hardly just leave without even trying."

"Jared, it may be the 'right' thing to do, but the probability we would find someone is next to nothing. We have a much better shot if we can get Toothless back into the air, though that might take a while."

He visibly sighed. "Alright then, do you know a good place to hide?"

"There is an island not to far from here. It still has some supplies on it from the last time I was there and there should be a raft we can use to get there."

"Come on then, get Toothless up. We need to set up camp before nightfall."

"Toothless, come on. We need to leave."

**"Fine fine, if I must."**

He got up and followed Jared and I, walking towards the section of the beach where Astrid landed the raft. My thoughts drifted from subject to subject, trying to find a way to keep myself entertained without arguing with Jared. I was not wearing my mask, it was much more comfortable without it on, and I preferred to keep it off around Jared and Toothless, it felt like I was hiding myself behind something when I wore it.

I heard a noise in the bushes, and walked over to investigate. "Jared, did you hear that?" I asked.

"Yeah, I did. Come on."

I got the message and ran after him into the forest. As I turned the corner around a rock, I saw Jared standing there, looking at the woman in blue and her dragon. She approached me, looking utterly bewildered. "Hiccup, could it be... after all these years?"

"Umm... should I know you?"

"No... but a mother never forgets."

**And scene. Next chapter will probably be Tuesday, maybe Monday if I have time. **


	26. CH25: Mother and Son

**Hiccup's POV**

"Wait... what?"

"Come on, we can't stay here." She said, turning around and running towards the rafts.

I tried to complain as I followed her. "Wait... what are you... you can't just say something like that and go running off. I mean, you're my mother! Do you grasp how insane that sounds?!"

"Hiccup, what in the name of Thor is going on?" Jared said, running after me.

"Apparently she's my mother, who supposedly died in a dragon attack when I was a kid."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"I don't know if she's even telling the truth."

**"She smells like she is, she has a scent similar to yours."**

"Never mind, apparently she is."

"According to who?"

"Toothless."

"What?"

"Come on, just up ahead." My mother interrupted, approaching the water with Toothless, Jared, and myself following.

As we emerged from some bushes, I saw the Stormcutter she rode waiting on the beach, ready to fly off at a moment's notice. There were no other dragons in sight, no other forms of life for that matter.

"So why did you bring us here?" I asked.

"We need to leave. Every day spent on this island is another day the queen has to look for us, and if she finds any of us..."

"Then we all die, got it. But why here, and why so suddenly. One second you're telling me that you're my mother and the next you're running away."

"I can explain later. Right now, we need to leave."

"How? Toothless is injured."

Said dragon made a groaning sound as I finished.

"Cloudjumper will carry him." My mother said, turning around and getting on Cloudjumper. "Come on, lets go. There's no time to waste."

"Where are we going to go?"

"I'll figure it out on the way."

I looked to Toothless, silently asking him if she was trustworthy, and he nodded.

"Alright, lets go." I told here as I climbed on to the Stormcutter's back and got ready for a rough flight, Jared getting on behind me. Cloudjumper flew back, grabbed Toothless, then flew North as fast as he could, not very fast being as he was carrying a Night Fury.

We flew for less than an hour before Cloudjumper landed, chest heaving from the effort of carrying so much weight.

"We'll sleep here for the night. No sense flying any longer." Valka said as we landed, dropping Toothless on the ground below.

"So... umm... mom, can we like... uhh... talk... and stuff."

"About?"

"I don't know, perhaps being 'dead' for the last 18 years." I said, the smallest bit of anger seeping into my voice.

"Jared, will you please go get some fish. Hiccup and I are going to talk."

Jared shrugged. "Fair enough. I'll take my time."

"Thank you Jared." She said, and waited for him to get out of hearing range before beginning. "Did you really think I was dead?"

"Of course. You were carried off by a _dragon._ Everyone thought you were dead, including me."

"Cloudjumper was never under the queen's control. He didn't mean to harm me, he must have thought I belonged with the king."

"And how was I supposed to know that? I didn't even know there was a king until a few days ago, and that doesn't explain why you didn't come back. Cloudjumper would have easily been able to fly you."

"Why did you leave Berk?"

"Because I had to kill a dragon, because I didn't want to endanger Toothless, and because I knew they wouldn't change."

"It's the same here, minus the killing dragons part. I knew that if I would have come back, they would have just attacked Cloudjumper, probably me as well. Would you not do the same?"

"Alright, I see your point. It's just weird to think that you're... well... you're my mom."

She laughed. "Same here. I thought you would have been a dragon killer like all the other vikings, now look at you."

"And it's only been 3 years since I met Toothless." Said Night Fury was laying down behind me, ears perking up at the mention of his name. "Yeah, we're talking about you now. May as well get up and meet my mother."

He did, sniffing her a few times before nudging her with his head. She leaned down and scratched him, causing him to purr and curl up next to her. Seeing them made me smile, my mother and my brother being together without killing each other. I wished I could get this to happen with my father.

"He really is adorable."

"That's an understatement."

She leaned in and observed his features, feeling his scales while her gaze drifted over his ears, wings, feet, and tail. "I've never seen anything like him, is he a new species?"

"No, he's a Night Fury." I told her. Upon hearing this, she quickly snapped back her hand and visibly moved back, distancing herself from him. "What's wrong?"

"A... a Night Fury? Hiccup do you have any idea how dangerous those are!"

I rolled my eyes, preparing the sarcastic remark. "No, I've only been living with one for... oh I don't know... the last three years." I stopped after realizing that she didn't get it. "Of course I know how dangerous he is, but he's not going to attack you."

"But... Night Fury."

"Yeah yeah, I know, the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. I read the books."

Toothless got up after realizing that she wasn't going to scratch him and instead lay down, curling around me and placing his head on my lap. "So the moment she stops scratching you, you come over to me?" He didn't respond, only looking up at me with huge eyes. "Fine, fine." I said as I caved in and began scratching him behind the ear.

My mother began to calm down after getting past her initial shock and realizing that he wasn't a threat. She walked over to where I was sitting and lightly stroked his skin, watching as his gaze drifted over to her.

"All this time you took after me, and where was I? I should have been there, I'm so sorry."

I got up, pushing Toothless's head out of the way as I did so, and hugged her. "I forgive you." I told her.

We stood there for a while before separating and sitting back down. Toothless wrapped back around me, getting back into the position we were in before, while my mother walked back over to her dragon and lay down over by her.

We talked for the next hour until Jared came back. She was fascinated by Toothless, so most of the conversation was spent talking about the Night Fury that was laying on my lap.

We all ate fish and fell asleep after Jared came back. I was going to offer him a spot under Toothless's wing, but apparently Toothless didn't want him to sleep there. He ended up sleeping on the grass with a blanket while my mother slept against Cloudjumper and I slept in Toothless's wing like I always did.

The next two weeks passed by in a blur, most of my time spent either with Toothless or talking to my newly-found mother. There was not a lot to do, and I felt guilty for being stuck down while The Red Death gathered strength, preparing to move on to destroy the rest of the archipelago. We had no outside information, no way of knowing what was going on, no way of knowing if people were dying as we idly talked to cure our own boredom.

As of now, we are flying towards Darigash. The situation is desperate and what we need more than anything is help, help defeating an unstoppable force that had me doubting what we could really do against it, what anyone could do against it. But we wouldn't just lay down and die. Not after what it had done to us, to Berk, and who knows how many others while we took our time resting. We would fight until our dying breath just trying to do something, anything, to stop it from killing more people and destroying their lives. My life is already tattered, fixing it would only be accomplished by stopping that dragon... that demon that has killed so many people, friends and family alike.

Revenge is all consuming, it makes you forget what really matters; what you're fighting for. Revenge is the desire to destroy those who have done wrong to you. I was consumed by it, and I had to release it the one way it could be released, by killing those who caused it.

It was no longer responsibility that drove me to fight, but revenge and hatred, feelings so much stronger than any other.

I had been driven past my tipping point, and that scared me much more than the fight that lay ahead.


	27. CH26: A Change of Heart

**Hiccup's POV**

"Turn left and head towards that rock formation." I heard Jared, our acting navigator, say from his spot on Cloudjumper's back. Being as he had lived in Darigash since he was 7, he knew his way around far better than I ever could.

Leaning into a right turn to follow Cloudjumper, I noticed the billows of smokes coming from the horizon... or something below it. Jared must have noticed it to, his face was twisted in to a knot of horror.

"No..."

That simple word confirmed my fears. If we would have left earlier... or flown faster... or...

I shook my head; blaming myself would accomplish nothing when there was nothing we could do. We needed to focus if we wanted to have any chance of taking down Zion and that demon.

"We need to go... quickly" I told them, angling downwards and picking up speed as I flew in the direction of smoke, flew in the direction of Darigash. If there was smoke, it had to have been attacked recently, or still under attack. If it was still under attack, then just maybe we could stop it.

But as I looked down from my place in the sky, there was nothing we could do, the damage had been done.

There really was no way to explain the sheer destruction, the once tall 'skyscrapers' destroyed and splayed across the ground, the forest that was blazing bright sending out the plume of smoke that we saw miles away, and the blood that splattered the streets. So many lives lost... again.

"Jared, we need to talk."

I jumped as I saw none other than Zion riding his nightmare; that man had the nerve to mock us after what he did! This was _his_ fault. Toothless was already preparing a plasma blast, ready to release it until we heard a desperate plea.

"Please hear me out. I don't mean any harm."

"You! You did this! All these people are dead because of _you_!" I heard Jared yell from behind me, barely containing his anger.

"And I'm trying to help you get them back."

What?

"Their dead. Their dead because of you, and you want us to believe that!"

"Just give me a chance."

"I will not give you the chance to destroy my life again!"

"Then will you give me the chance to try and fix it!"

As Jared prepared another retort, I saw the truth behind those words, the truth revealed by the utter desperation in his eyes. "Jared... I don't think he's lying." That earned me a baleful glare and a confused face from both of Cloudjumper's riders. "I... I think he's telling the truth."

"What could he possibly do to fix this!"

"The Archanium Stone... it can fix it."

Jared immediately directed his attention back to Zion. "And why should we believe you?!"

"Because you really don't have much of a choice."

Jared opened his mouth to say something back, but he seemed to be unable to think of anything.

"The queen never said anything about this; I tried everything I could to stop her, but she was to powerful. All I want is a chance to fix this, I'm sure you do as well."

Jared sighed. "There's nothing that could fix this." he said, full of remorse and sorrow, the anger falling from his face.

"That's where your wrong. The Stone has the powers of the gods, even I don't know the extent of what it can do, but I do know that among its many abilities, one of them is time travel. If you can go back and defeat the queen... then you might be able to stop this from ever happening."

"We can do that?"

"I can probably take you back two hours, right when the queen arrived. After that... its up to you if we win or lose."

"I'm not giving you that stone."

"There's no other choice." Jared swallowed, knowing that he was right. "This is the only way. I understand that you don't trust me, I wouldn't either in your position, but unless you trust me, there is nothing we can do."

I knew he was right, and from the way he acted, I knew he was telling the truth. While I was a terrible liar, I could easily tell when someone was telling the truth, and he was right. We have no other choice.

"Where do we start."

I watched as a small smile spread across his face, possibly because we have fallen for a trap, but maybe because somewhere, he actually cared. "Follow me" he said, turning around on his nightmare and leading us into the forest, a large, covered area that would not be spotted from above.

Landing, we all stepped down from our dragons, and I took out the stone that was glowing blue in my palms. I held it out to Zion, who took it in his hands and placed it on the floor, kneeling down to drive it into the earth like one would stab the ground with a dagger.

"Forlætan hie mod astigan þurh dæg, ge cunnan hie forslean se gæst hie alecgan beæftan" I heard him chant, watching in awe as the stone began glowing much brighter than before. It must have worked, because slowly, the world around us began to slow, movement becoming slower and slower until everything simply stopped, excluding Toothless, Jared, and myself.

Suddenly, a voice descended over me like a blanket. "Go Hiccup. Save your people. They need you now more than ever."

And with that, the world around us disappeared, leaving us in a silent darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>I suppose that now I need to explain to you my rules of time travel.<strong>

**Every book and every movie with time travel has its own way of perceiving it, some realistically, some in the way that provides the most entertainment. As for me, I'm doing it in the simplest way I know how. (It's my own fault for putting time travel in a HTTYD fanfiction).**

**So lets say you go back in time. A****n 'echo' of you (its still you, but has no conscience and no 'soul') is the one with the changes. Once you reach the moment that you changed the future, your 'soul' goes into the 'echo'.**

**Lets assume that you are walking along and Toothless dies. You go back in time, there are two of you for a while, then once you stop Toothless from dying, you resume life from the 'echo's perspective. Your memories change from going back and saving Toothless, to walking along when another one of you suddenly appears and saves Toothless (Toothless's memories change too). There's none of this 'its not really Hiccup anymore' or 'my real self died', got it?**

**Hopefully I don't confuse everyone, as such, I'll try to keep the time travel in the next chapter to a minimum (there will not be like 10 Hiccups at the same time, I promise).**


	28. CH27 Thinking With Time Travel

**Well, this chapter has proven itself to be the most difficult and time consuming chapter in this story. I hope you all enjoy it; it's the final non-epilogue chapter. **

**I was going to post this yesterday, but I only had the first half ready and thus would have to stop right in the middle (right where the page divider is). I didn't want to do that, so instead you get a delayed double chapter like CH23.**

**Finally, a special thanks to NightsAnger for his continued support with this story, I have to credit many ideas and changes in this chapter to him.**

**Hiccup's POV**

The blackness left us as the world began playing in reverse. Watching dead bodies rise, watching skyscrapers repair themselves, and watching dragons fly backwards, it really was the strangest thing I had ever seen. Soon though, the little 'bubble' separating us from reality popped, blue light streaming out brightly until dying down to show us. It showed that we had stopped just before the queen arrived, she was on the horizon and Darigash was panicking, commands ringing through the sky.

So as you can imagine, everyone was more than a bit confused to see us suddenly appear in the middle of it all.

"Jared, what in the name of Thor..?" I heard one of the men asking.

"I'll explain later. Go get the defenses ready and blast that demon to Hel."

"Yes Sir."

"And Hiccup…" He said, turning around to me, "…I need you and Toothless up in the sky. Gather the skrills and changewings; they're the only other species that can do damage."

"I'm on it"

Jared turned back around began quickly running in the direction of the council, knowing that he would not be able to fight and instead would run everything from behind the scenes.

Turning back in the direction of the queen, I saw an army of dragons heading towards Darigash much larger than it was back at Berk…

Right. Blaming myself again. No time to think about that now, we had bigger problems, like organizing those riders.

After running up to the central plaza where most of the dragons and riders were, I yelled out into the crowd, "Any skrill or changewing riders get over here!"

Four people flew over to me, confused looks on their faces as they were pulled out of their respective attack groups.

"I need you all directly firing on the queen, preferably on her wings. The other dragons don't do any damage to the queen and will be fighting of the other dragons. Is that understood?"

I got three yes sir's and one "Who put you in charge" from the skrill rider.

"Jared did. Now if you're done questioning my authority, let's get up in the air and bring that thing down."

Their answer was to fly up and land on some skyscrapers, preparing themselves for the fight that lay only a few minutes from now. I followed them up there on Toothless and waited.

Two minutes later, there was a cheer from behind us as every dragon rider flew up into the air and began fighting the dragons that both landed in the streets and flew into the air.

"Let's go." I told my group, and we flew towards the queen in sync, dodging the other dragons, as they were busy fighting the others.

The changewings began spilling acid on her wing soon as they got close, while the skrill rider ignored me and began doing his own thing.

He gave me a surprisingly accurate idea of what Snotlout would look like riding a dragon, and that's not a good thing.

"What in the name of Thor are you doing?" I shouted at the skrill rider. "Tell your skrill to shoot the wings, not… whatever you're doing!"

"Yeah! Well watch this!" He shouted as he dove down towards her feet and shot lightning at her, doing little damage but grabbing her complete attention.

"Toothless, quickly, distract her before she kills him."

I heard him mumble something that should not be repeated about the skrill rider before diving down and sending a blast into her neck, causing her to lose focus.

The unmistakable screech of a night fury echoed through the air as we dove back up and sent another blast into her stomach.

Flying away from the queen, we narrowly avoided a fire shot that singed my back. I looked back to make sure Toothless was fine, and saw his tailfin slowly burning.

"Toothless, we need to land quickly."

**"I'm on it."**

We dove down at a quick speed, the lack of control from the nearly broken prosthetic ended with me being flung against the ground rather harshly.

Groaning, I looked up and found myself looking up to a bunch of dragons, and they did not look happy. As I was getting up, I heard a fireball heading towards me and I ducked, causing it to whizz above my head.

Drawing my sword, I advanced slowly, giving the dragons a chance to get away before lunging and nearly hitting one. Toothless sent a blast into another near me, hitting it in the side so there were no serious injuries, and I continued to fight on the front lines.

Everything was going well until a Gronckle shot a fireball at me.

I barely ducked under the fireball in time which ended up hitting a skyscraper behind us. I didn't think it caused any significant damage until I heard the unmistakable sound of splintering wood. The skyscraper… was falling.

Turning around and running, the splintering got louder as I heard pieces of wood falling around me. I continued sprinting as fast as I could, attempting to dodge the debris falling around me, until I was tackled by Toothless.

I watched helplessly as a rogue shard of wood, almost 12 feet long, pierced Toothless's scales and sent a shrill cry of agony through the air. Utter horror consumed me as I realized what Toothless had just done.

I gasped as I saw the injury, the large shard lodged in his stomach and pinning him to the ground. Blood was dripping down his wings and already pooling around us, he would bleed out in minutes.

"Just stay still Toothless, maybe if I just…"

**"Hiccup… I'm dying…"**

"No… you'll be okay. It's only a…"

**"Stop. Just… stop." **He paused for a second, gasping for breath so he could speak. **"You only have… one chance. Don't… mess it up." **He said, coughing blood every few words.

"I can't do it without you."

**"You have to." **

I tried to speak, but there was nothing I could say, there was nothing to be said.

**"Please, brother. Do it… for me."**

Those were the last words he spoke.

Upon his silence, I rest my hands on his scales and felt his breathing slow down, his heartbeat become less and less until soon, nothing but a broken body lay behind. He was dead now, gone forever.

"No… Toothless…" I said just above a whisper, feeling tears fall down my cheeks. I tried to keep speaking, but any word I spoke was choked back with tears.

He couldn't be dead, there had to be something, anything I could do to bring him back. I frantically searched my pockets, pouches, saddlebags, finding nothing until I felt the smooth texture of… The Archanium Stone. There was still a chance.

I never questioned how it got there.

Getting on my knees as Zion had done, I brought the stone down and attempted to use it, trying to remember what Zion said. "Forlaan himes-um-himos dæg… then… tur, no, thur…"

It wasn't working; Toothless would die because of _my _bad memory.

"…dammit please just work!" I yelled in frustration, giving up on trying to mimic Zion's actions. "Please" I murmured "just this once, please work."

I must have done something right… said something correctly, because slowly, the world went black once again; but this time I was alone.

* * *

><p><strong>Hiccup's POV; Whilst fighting dragons after crash landing.<strong>

Drawing my sword, I advanced slowly, giving the dragons a chance to get away before lunging and nearly hitting one. Toothless sent a blast into another near me, hitting it in the side so there were no serious injuries, and I continued to fight on the front lines.

Everything was going well until a Gronckle shot a fireball at me.

I barely ducked under the fireball in time, noticing a bright blue light coming from behind me.

Looking back, I saw a man my age who was running at speeds too fast to make out any details.

I could only watch as he ran right into the path of the fireball, taking the full force of his impact. I was running over to his aid before I even realized what I was doing, about to get out the medicine bag until I saw how badly he was wounded; he could not be helped.

I was able to see him better as I got up close. He was a young man, with auburn hair and bright green eyes revealed by his nearly burnt up armor…

And he held a sword titled "Inferno" in his left hand.

Reality sunk in as looked at the burnt mask, my mask, that was over by his side. Seeing his features in a new light, he looked like an exact copy of me, which in a way, he was.

"Go…" He managed to choke out. "My death… is necessary. You… must defeat… her."

Gathering as much courage as I could muster, I picked up his slightly burnt inferno and ended his life quickly, knowing he… I… would not want to suffer though that.

I also noticed the blue glow of The Archanium Stone, and picked that up as well.

Standing back up and wielding both swords after putting the stone in my pocket, I ran over to Toothless. I didn't tell him what happened, he didn't need any more to think about, and returned to the problem at hand.

I continued to fight off the dragons, Toothless and I nearly back to back as we defended ourselves from the seemingly unending waves of dragons that the queen had at her disposal.

I was suddenly knocked against the ground by a strong shockwave, sent by the queen who had just crushed one of the skyscrapers under her foot. She turned to us, seeming to recognize us from before, letting out a loud roar as she turned her attention to us.

Bracing myself for our inevitable end, I looked up to the sky and prayed as the queen opened her maw and prepared to fire at us.

I heard a dragon flying above us and watched as Zion's nightmare shot at her head, fire coming into contact with her eyes, causing her to screech in pain.

**"YOU FOOL. YOU SIDE WITH THE RIDERS? NOW YOU DIE!" **I heard the queen scream.

Getting over my shock quickly, I ran over and grabbed the twin swords. I clicked the buttons to activate the swords as a nightmare charged me, only to find that they had jammed.

I gasped for breath as I was knocked against the floor, pinned down by the nightmare that was gathering breath in his throat while I struggled to get free.

He sent a blast right next to my head, and while his defenses were down, I was able to knee him in the stomach and scramble out of the way. The second I was away from the nightmare, Toothless shot, the powerful blast that obliterated him the moment it hit.

Looking back up at the queen, I saw Zion flying quickly, barely dodging the queen's attacks. Her aim was terrible from the damage done previously, meaning he was in no danger of being burnt.

But it seemed that the queen was smart enough not to focus her attention on the traitor, and to my horror, began gathering gas in her maw as she preparing to turn Darigash into ashes.

Think Hiccup, think! There must be something you can do!

Strangely, it seemed that in the heat of battle, with around 10 seconds until death, I was thinking more clearly than I had in a long time.

Fumbling with my hands, I took the canister out of inferno, praying to the gods that this plan would work.

"Zion! Catch me!" I yelled into the sky.

I prayed that Zion heard me as I ran and jumped off the large cliff that lead into the ocean. To my relief, I felt a nightmare's claws grasp me and pull me onto its back.

"Fly up to the queen!" I yelled, and he listened without hesitation, knowing that we had precious seconds until the queen released her breath.

Standing on the nightmare while Zion flew over the queen, I jumped, inferno's canister in hand, and rolled roughly on the queen's head. Taking out my strike-a-light and igniting the canister, I ran across the queen's head until dropping it into the queen's mouth, jumping off the edge and falling into the sea.

There was a moment of silence while I was falling through the air, followed by a massive explosion _inside_ of the queen's mouth. I hit the water as flames were tearing at my skin, a scream of pain coming out before being silenced by water.

I nearly blacked out from the pain, cold, and lack of oxygen, until I felt familiar claws grasp me from the water and pull me back to shore.

I collapsed to the ground and coughed up water as I was dragged up onto the shore, slowly opening my eyes to see Toothless wrapping me in his wings to warm me up.

**"We did it Hiccup… we actually did it. The queen… she's gone."**

And with that final statement, I let myself rest, finding myself asleep in Toothless's claws once more.

* * *

><p><strong>And there you go. Like it? Hate it? It's your choice. As I have mentioned, this is the final 'chapter' of the story. The epilogues will be coming soon.<strong>

**Man, its a good feeling to have a 36,408 word story (mostly) done.**


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